Remnants Reloaded
by ThePhantomScribe
Summary: These dreams won't stop... Dreams of kingdoms and hunters and monsters... What does it all mean? It's too real to be fake, yet too fake to be real. But the more I think about it, the more the duality of it all starts to make sense. Who is Jaune Arc? And why do these dreams... feel like memories? [ModernDayAU] -Knightshade Reboot- *Not an OC fic* (You'll see why)
1. Chapter 1

**_Duality_**

* * *

"Jaune... _Jaune!_ "

The voice sudden and loud, the boy could only open his eyes groggily as the young man in front of him slowly came into as much focus as could be allowed in the hazy room that was just that. Hazy.

Wait. Where was he?

And who was _Jaune?_

Of course. There's no one else in the room. It must be him, how dense can he be? Jaune... well, despite the fact that at first thought it made him think of the word yellow, which might be in line with the dimly golden lock of hair he blew out from in front of his eyes in the nearly grayscale moonlight cascading into the... room? No, dorm. Must be. Despite that, the name felt important. Overarching as if to protect others. Arc.

Jaune Arc.

Hm, that sounds cool. Could've been worse. His name might've been something like Miles for all he knew.

"Jaune, there's no time to lose - Beacon is under attack!"

The declaration causing the young blonde to snap out of his mild musing, he took his gaze to rest on the kid, his eyes as fuschia as the highlight in his hair. A friend? A brother? No, not a brother... clearly, the guy looked nothing like him. But definitely friend.

Nonetheless, the rise in volume and pitch seemingly unbecoming of who would normally strike Jaune as a stoic young man, the mention of an attack immediately got him to sit up on his bed.

"W-Wha?"

"We don't have it all figured out yet, but... it's, it's unthinkable. Cardin and his team, they've stolen Port's scroll to disable the security systems... We must help the others hold them all back!"

What? Them? Sounded like something much bigger than a crew of robbers. And everything felt so unreal at the moment. But if it was enough to seriously rattle Ren... was it Ren? It seemed fitting, like a silent lotus, ready to strike. Strike... Jaune chuckled inwardly at the unbidden image of a kung fu master that unexpectedly filled in the rest of the youth's name. Lee? No, Lie Ren.

But Cardin? Port? Suddenly Jaune's head was inundated with mixed emotions... animosity, pity, regret... and boredom? Right, classes. Fourth year, at a school. A great teacher, at least great in his own eyes, maybe?

"Port..."

"Yes," Ren continued, his eyes heavier with the bags underneath them weighing his gaze to the floor for only a moment, "He's dead. They _killed_ him, Jaune."

Whoa. Murder? Well this escalated quickly.

"I'll... I'll get my things."

What is this place?

But even as Jaune let the question run through his mind, he jumped up and began rummaging through the dorm for his gear as if it were his own room. As he picked up his gear and the sword and scabbard which he so strangely without a doubt _knew_ was his, Jaune nodded at his solemn brethren-in-arms and followed him out of the dorm while looking for any items of use and picking up a small shell casing which had caught his eye.

Through endless halls within what could only be described as some sort of archaic school, Jaune watched quartets of what must be students running by like NPCs in some poorly-written RPG game as he and Ren exited the building into the starry night.

Despite their efforts, despite their toil, Jaune knew. He felt it, and surely they did, too. They were doomed. This world under their shattered moon in the night sky... fated to fade away. Their world. But not Jaune's.

But all of these kids, anonymous, whose stories would end and be forgotten in a history no longer to be taught, were indeed running in fours... and he and Ren? Shouldn't there be-

"The others are helping team Ruby. They had already made their way out into the forest destroying everything in their path, thinking it was just a fluke incursion when the Headmaster sent word out of the attack. That's when she sent me to get you. They should be just around this corner."

Ah. Convenient exposition placement, check.

But even though he knew what he heard, Jaune felt the team name rearranging itself in his mind into the letters RWBY. Strange. But what's more - aside from the thought of their apparent teammates engaging in unbridled destruction - was the unexpected pull in his chest at the thought of that previous acronym. Something... special about it. But what?

"Jaune, look out! Here they come!"

Swinging in faster than he could realize was the most gruesome thing he could imagine. Easily a million times worse than the Shadow Guardians from that God-awful Cradle of Life Tomb Raider movie, Jaune watched a giant wolf from hell swing its flesh-piercing claws covered in ivory and crimson ochre at him with blood red eyes...

* * *

 _ **BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!**_

"...ack! I'm _up_ already!"

The young man all but falls out of his bed in trying to shut off the iPhone practically blaring its alarm into his ear. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, images of the dream linger as the young man stands and makes his way out of the small apartment bedroom. Smoke, weapons... those, monsters. Ugh, he can never remember the names of people and things after he wakes up, and settles with spending a considerable amount of the day trying to recall them.

After all, why not? It's strange enough that he's been having these recurring dreams for several days now. Each one taking him further down the same events than the last.

The groggy blonde shuffles his way over to the fridge, his black tee and ridiculous baby blue flannel pants with little bunnies all over it trudging along with him on his somewhat scrawny frame as he mentally promises himself that next week he'll start working out. He's about to open the fridge door when the bright pink Post-it note catches his eye.

 _Morning, John._

 _Didn't bother waking you since you could probably sleep through a war zone. Finished the last of the leftovers. Your turn to buy groceries._

 _-B.L._

John groans aloud as he lets his head sink in dejection and reaches up to snatch the long grocery list beside the note. Also in pink.

"What _is_ it with this guy and the color pink, anyway!?"

Smacking his teeth at the bitter taste of dried spit and morning breath after uttering his second statement of the day, John shuts his eyes and shakes his head at his pointless complaint. _Ugh_. Breakfast and coffee at White Castle, then.

Foregoing his favorite black hoodie that he would've normally worn on a day like this in his school years, John puts himself through the normal routine of dressing up in slacks and a dress shirt for his recently achieved position of assistant counselor at Beacon High in Manhattan, New York. A fairly reputable preparatory academy, and one that John is still surprised to think that he was ever able to get a position in, especially for a guy who only has a recently acquired two year degree under his belt. Okay, maybe he stretched the truth a bit in his interview to seem like he had more experience, but it's not like he cheated his way into the job. And Beacon High isn't without its cons, John notes as he thinks about the debilitating addiction to coffee he's developed at that place... no thanks to its questionably sane Principal.

John smirks at himself as he grabs a thin blue tie and puts it on in front of the mirror, "Not bad for a twenty-one year old from Jersey."

New Jersey. In River Vale, to be exact. But with all the neighborhoods within the town like North Vale and such, many people have taken to simply calling it Vale.

But thoughts aside, John tidies up his outfit and is about to step out when he realizes it's still another half hour until the White Castle opens. Sure, he could go for some ridiculously expensive coffee at Starbucks instead of the hectic fast food joint that's a little out of his way, but his roommate's best friend works there and gives John awesome discounts. And having breakfast there is practically tradition after moving in with his roommate.

More so now after what happened to his roommate's brother.

Casually lounging his way back to his room, John flicks the Bluetooth speaker on and sets the playlist to Adventure Club Remixes before flopping onto the bed as the first song comes on.

 _Have you ever wondered,_  
 _What it could be like,_  
 _And I was all set to come back home..._

As the intro plays out, he smiles as he recognizes the tune and folds his arms over his stomach.

"The remix of Wonder by Kite String Tangle. I guess I can wait until this song is over before heading out..."

However, the song continues as sleep unwittingly begins to overcome him.

 _And I know I should have held you closer,_  
 _And I know I should have treated you better,_  
 _In a perfect world,_  
 _But we're not always, What we promised to be..._

* * *

Well, crap.

Jaune's internal curse only came as quickly as the weapon that suddenly pierced through claw and chest, the wolf... no, Beowolf, falling to the ground and disintegrating in death.

Ren smiled as he saw the person approaching behind Jaune first, "Oh thank goodness you're all... alright?"

Jaune turned and immediately saw her, the name coming to mind as quickly as the fiery crimson in her hair reached his eyes. Pyrrha, the seven-time tournament champion. Four in her homeland, three in her three years in... wherever this side of the world was. But as Jaune looked around, watching the distant shadows seemingly engulfing groups of students... no, Hunters in training... he turned back thinking that there may not be enough of this place left to hold a fourth tournament this year.

"Jaune, thank Oum you're alright!"

Immediately taking him into a full embrace, it was only when she pulled back that he saw the dried tears along the sides of her incredibly striking face. Was she his girlfriend? No, but friend? Maybe partners of some type, but it was more complicated than that, judging by the fact she was the first to return. Did she run so fast just to make sure he was alright?

"Pyrrha, what's wrong," Ren insisted, resting his hand on her shoulder to which she merely let her gaze drop in a silent indication of bad news.

Just as Ren's face seemed to be losing its mask of serenity at the implication, the three of them were immediately put on alert by the rustling of the trees nearby. However, Ren's face changed to one of pure relief as an orange-haired girl jumped out into the clearing and sprinted at Ren, jumping on him with the kind of embrace Jaune thought could only be capable by some species of sloth. Those two... they certainly were together-together.

That is, if the subsequent full-on kiss the girl laid on the dark-haired boy was anything to go by.

"I'm so sorry, Renny... we did all we could, but there were too many of them!"

Ren's face regaining a measure of its previous concern, his gaze switched from the girl to Pyrrha and back as he replied, "Nora... w-what do you mean?"

At that, two more girls entered the clearing, a taller blonde one holding a weeping red-hooded one in her arms with tears in her own eyes while the shorter one repeated the same thing over and over.

"She said she'd be right back. She said it, Yang! She _said_ she'd be right back!"

New tears fell from Pyrrha's eyes, the champion silently shaking her head at the little Rose... Ruby, Ruby Rose, before turning to Jaune and Ren to explain.

"We were surrounded by a herd of Ursa Majors and nearly out of ammunition. We needed an escape, and Ruby wouldn't let her cover our exit until she assured her that she had plenty of Dust left in Myrtenaster. I... I should've known she was lying."

Jaune was about to open his mouth when a final entrance was made... by someone who reminded him of what skipping a heartbeat felt like. Her appearance was by no means perfect, but that's not what beauty is. There was simply nothing about her that Jaune would have added or taken away, and her beauty only belied the dangerous killing efficiency within. She walked up to the two girls... sisters, perhaps? and shook her head before holding up the bloody tattered remains of a white coat.

"No sign of her. The Ursae are making their way here now, and doubtlessly another horde of Deathstalkers. We need to move."

Beowolves, Ursae, Deathstalkers... some sort of enemy, maybe. If it was the kind of things which would only leave behind a half-mauled coat, then Jaune suddenly felt that he didn't wish to be there when those monsters arrived.

"Now that's a plan I can get behind," Jaune finally stated, earning a somber nod and tiny appreciative smile from the girl whose name he for the life of him couldn't remember.

He could recall every other name if he tried hard enough, why not hers?

But with no time to lose, Jaune turned and waved for the group of seven to follow him. Or would've, if it wasn't for the golden stinger that flew in to skewer him.

Jumping away at the last second with reflexes that surprised him as the tip embedded itself into the ground, Jaune had no time to think about how he had committed swordsmanship to muscle memory as he immediately unsheathed the sword and lopped off the stinger in one go. As two more beasts just like it cornered them all between the building and forest, Jaune and Ren went to work as the rest receded to the sides of the building to give the weeping sisters cover.

Everything happened so fast, two submachine guns in Ren's hands as he whittled down the Deathstalker - it couldn't be anything else - on Jaune's left, and the nameless girl took on the stinger-less one on Jaune's right. The way she moved was in a word, breathtaking; the sudden appearance of clones as she flitted around its attacks only leaving him in awe despite the obviously unnatural ability. But turning his attention to the largest one in the middle, Jaune set himself to dodging the claws and stinger as he instinctively expanded his sheath into a shield.

Wait, _what?_

Putting aside the questionable physics of the matter, Jaune couldn't help a small smirk as he felt himself keeping up with the deadly scorpion-like beast, blocking blows which should've shattered the limbs of a normal man without breaking a sweat. This... _power_... a dim white glow surrounding him like some sort of force field... a sort of aura to protect from death? Or maybe an efficient tool to deal it if used correctly?

But turning to see if the nameless girl had at least caught sight of his impressive power, his smirk dropped as he realized the beast had its claw ready to blindside her from the side.

"Hey! Look out!"

Without a moment to lose, Jaune hefted his sword... ah yes, Crocea Mors, the pride of the Arc family in the hands of a fighter who had finally proven himself with nearly four years of rigorous training... and with a burst of white energy sent it whirring like a disk of metal to lop off the offending claw and let the black angel deal her coup de grace on the beast, much to the girl's gratitude.

But Jaune still didn't know her name.

"Jaune!"

Turning back quickly, he realized almost too late the price of taking his attention off his main opponent, barely able to block the claw in time with his shield. But strangely enough, it was almost as if the shield had lifted itself to block the shot.

Nearly at the same instant, Jaune felt another object whizzing by him, the bronze shield of the girl who had already saved him once deflecting the second claw into the floor and the girl herself standing only a few feet away.

"Honestly Pyrrha, what would I do without you?"

The two fighters trading a warm smile, Jaune's breath suddenly hitched as Pyrrha's eyes widened in the briefest moment of surprise, her smile dropping along with her gaze to see the large golden stinger protruding from her chest.

No. Nononononono...

Sprinting to her as the stinger pulled back and she fell to the floor, Jaune pulled her into his arms as Ren took on the largest Deathstalker along with the girl after defeating his own opponent. Jaune could barely hear the sounds of Ren shooting off the stinger with a volley of gunfire so as to have the cursed object crash into the Deathstalker's head and give the subsequent and strangely nostalgic order for Nora to "nail it."

All he could hear now were words once said... a hymn, or chant of some sort possibly?

 _And unbound by death, by my shoulder... I shall protect thee..._

"Pyrrha, y-you didn't have to do that..."

"W-We're partners Jaune, I-I swore I would..."

Repeatedly running his hand through her hair streaked with equal shades of its natural color along with her life blood, Jaune felt tears welling in his eyes as he vehemently shook his head, "No, Pyrrha. _No_. Nowhere did that include _this!_ Nowhere... nowhere..."

His tears suddenly wiped by her hand which then caressed the side of his face, he looked into the once vivid emerald eyes of the champion as they now dulled with tears and with her inevitable surmise.

"Jaune, I-I'm sorry I never told you..."

And she never did. The girl in his arms falling limp in his grasp, Jaune felt his teeth clench, the warm power which was protecting him now growing cold like iron as he and the remainder of his living friends backed up towards the building when a much larger horde of Beowolves emerged through the forest around them.

He wasn't going to let them all go out like this. Not like this.

Not like this.

"Nora. Get Pyrrha over to Ruby and Yang. Ren. Keep the girls back."

"But Jaune-"

" _I said keep them back!_ "

His abnormally solemn demeanor breaking out into a heated growl, Jaune noted his team... the remnant of his team... obey his order without any sense of surprise. Clearly, they had seen him like this before in their time together. Was he their leader? Nevertheless, they pulled back as the group was surrounded by the creatures of darkness. The creatures of Grimm.

But all Jaune could think about was Pyrrha. His friend. His mentor. She... she had been the one who had painstakingly spent all those hours training him, honing his skills to lethal calibers to the point that he was the one to reach the finals against her in the previous year's tournament.

A fight he'd lost. A fight they'd never get to repeat. Because of _this_. These snarling creatures waiting around for him to make the first of his final movements in their twisted hunt for flesh.

No. They, they would _die_ for this, these monsters and the _monsters_ responsible for setting them loose on this place, this beacon of hope in the world.

"Rrrrrrrgh!"

Throwing his arms up at his sides, the glow around him coalescing into his hands as he felt the natural pull at his fingertips, Jaune let instinct and unbridled rage take care of the rest as he threw his hands forward towards the beasts.

" _NYAAAHHH!_ "

And incredibly, unbelievably, the entire wall of the building behind him literally bent to his wishes - strands of metal window panes, rebar, and the iron framework of the building itself shooting out like a hail of bullets to inundate the entire horde of Grimm in a fountain of black ichor and death until only their dissipating remains were left.

Turning back and walking without looking at anyone else in the group, stopping only to bend down and tenderly kiss the forehead of lifeless girl whom Nora had propped up against the stony part of the wall that had been left standing, Jaune stood up and kept walking.

"We need to find the others. Let's move."

* * *

John awakes silently, wiping an unexpected tear out of his eye as the song on the loudspeaker comes to an end.

This... this _can't_ be normal.

The young blonde slowly stands, his mind a murky mess as he ambles about the room like a zombie and softly shuts off the speaker before grabbing his car keys off a nearby countertop. Groaning as he plops down on the driver's seat of his white hatchback, he turns the keys and heads due south towards his now _very_ necessary cup of jo. Foregoing the 9W freeway due to morning traffic, John takes the 39 south towards the Bergen Turnpike instead. However, before he can even reach the I-95, his minds drifts as he passes a small patch of forest that surrounds both sides of the road. And just like that, he sees it - dozens of armored youths fighting against the shadows in the trees, quickly rubbing his eyes with his free hand to ensure he saw it.

 _ **BEEEEEEP!**_

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

John immediately swerves back into his lane as an offended driver speeds past him, taking a quick glance back into the forest to see that the kids were never there... that the Grimm aren't real.

"Wait," John suddenly mumbles as he reaches the realization, "I'm... I'm remembering?"

The Grimm. Creatures of Grimm. It's from his dream! They were important... somehow. What happened? And _why_ is it so hard to remember?

"Aaaaagh," John groans as he finally pulls in to the White Castle parking lot after a few more minutes, "I'll get it eventually..."

The young man parks the car and grunts as he steps out into the crisp morning air that doesn't do much to help him wake up while as he shuffles into the restaurant and takes a booth by the window. He's about to nod off when a very bubbly voice stops him.

"Well heya, Johnny!"

He drags a palm down his face to bring himself to reality... a reality which seems less and less real by the hour.

"You can just call me John, you know."

"Nope! I like Johnny!" a lightly ginger-haired waitress states as she plops down on the booth seat across from him with a big grin, "You can complain all you wan't but- hey... you came alone?"

John can't help a smirk at his roommate's best friend who can rarely stay on the same subject for more than a few sentences, casting a glance at her lustrous hair which almost looks orange in the light, "Yeah, Ben left early today."

"Awwwww, bummer," she complains adorably before suddenly brightening up and reaching into her waitress fanny pack thing over her short skirt she wears as part of her uniform, "Oh well, check this out!"

Pulling out what looks like a receipt around a decent wad of cash, John raises a brow at the item as his new companion explains, "Some random guy just left me this mondo tip and wrote his phone number on the receipt! See? It says, 'Looking beautiful as always, Nora. Call me when you wanna meet up.' Can you believe this guy!?"

John gives her another once-over, noting that she's always been a rather good-looking girl - well-endowed to say the least - as she readjusts her pink tee with a little heart over her noticeable bust in front of him in a huff. Of course, if the random customer knew what she was like after talking to her for more than ten seconds, he might reconsider...

"Well-" John begins, but is quickly interrupted by her as she continues anyway.

"I know, right!? It's _Norah_ , with an _H!_ I mean, it's right here on the receipt I rung up for him! What's so hard about putting in the fifth letter, _jeez!_ "

"It's probably 'cuz he was too busy staring at your _boobs_ ," the bewildered young blonde mutters under his breath.

"Huh?"

"Um," John corrects quickly, "I said, 'I guess some people are just really _rude'_..."

"I _know_ ," Norah now replies in a hushed whisper as if sharing a top-secret secret before straightening up with a warm smile, "Anyways, want somethin' to eat?"

John grunts as he runs a had through his hair to decide, "Scrambled eggs. Under a mountain of every kind of meat you guys serve... and a coffee?"

Norah shoots up to a standing position with a comical salute before stating, "You _got_ it, Mister Head Honcho, sir! ...but just remember that _I'm_ the Queen of this Castle!"

As the girl skips away humming some tune from that Red vs. Blue show, totally oblivious to how many men's attention she catches as her little skirt flaps up and down with every hop, John merely notices her mismatched knee-high socks before setting his head down on the table. He doesn't even realize he's asleep until he suddenly isn't...

* * *

"Jaune! You're alright!"

"Jaune! Please help us!"

"Jaune!"

The cascade of exclamations suddenly surrounded the group as they made their way towards what surely must have been the main entry to the auditorium at some point in time. Now, it simply looked like a war zone, and the casualties littering the area were many. Jaune turned to the nameless girl on instinct despite the congregation of students converging on them, following her aghast line of sight to the literal mountain of bodies a few hundred feet from the auditorium entryway. Gasping at the pair of bodies slumped at the top... immediately recognizing the great witch and wizard atop them all, he turned back to face the youths as a fresh well of tears sprung in the eyes of the other five students who had just stumbled into the scene.

"What... what happened."

A fairly young nameless female student wielding a pair of some sort of gunblades or another pointed at the pair of adults... Hunters... who had given the flames of their lives in favor of the greter Beacon they protected, "They saw the bad guys coming in... they... t-they took care of them all s-so we wouldn't have to..."

The girl could continue no more, bursting into tears as her classmates around her tried to console her but to no avail. Surely, this entire group was the first-year class that these two adults had sworn to always protect. Jaune turned once more to see the two greatest Professors he'd ever met... the blonde one, Glynda, standing over a man with what looked like a haggard-looking chainsaw blade at his side and a broken white facemask who now looked more like a pincushion with all the jagged crystals poking out of him. Surely not a happy death. She was slumped against the bloodied Professor, no, Headmaster, who was propped up by a polished katana through his abdomen on one side and what looked like a cane on the other, thrust into the chest of a man under him in a black tuxedo and with bull horns on his head. Despite it all... it was an incredible sight.

"They took them all on by themselves..." another student mumbled before a distant but ominous rumbling startled the group.

Looking back at the mountain of uniformed corpses who obviously once belonged to the same organization as a distant roaring echoed through the night once more, the six fourth-year students knew that Ozpin and Glynda would've gladly given their lives a hundred more times if it meant avoiding to have their students be forced to take human... no, human _or_ faunus lives of their own. _Faunus?_ Jaune didn't have much time to ponder the meaning of the word before a small group of heavily-wounded students approached the group.

"The name's Alexander Viola, sir," the leader of the quartet of otherwise scantily-clad female students began as he handed over his teammates to a group of students at the door who seemed to have set up some sort of field hospital in the auditorium, "Reports from the field state that the whole third-year grade has been wiped out. Us second-years are barely holding on."

"And what about the fourth-years?" Ruby quietly asked the boy whom Jaune suddenly realized she must've shared the same age with despite the two-year grade difference.

"...You're all that's left of them."

And with that, the palpable veil of despair over the group now gradually fell entirely on Jaune's shoulders with all the seniors and faculty gone... he could feel the gazes - and expectations - of every person present now desperately riveted onto him. And despite it all, he had no qualms about it.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Jaune now began with an aura-projected voice he didn't even know he could use, even the students behind the shattered auditorium-turned-clinic windows paying attention to one of the last leaders they had, "We know what this is. We know where it's coming from. We all saw it happen to Vacuo, then to Mistral. We all prayed that we would find salvation from Atlas' forces, only to see it fall in all its might in a matter of hours! We _know_ what awaits us! We _know_ that they're coming! But we _know_... we KNOW... that we must now do the utmost to survive as long as we may!"

Jaune turned to face his group of friends among the sea of tear and blood-streaked faces surrounding them before taking a deep breath and booming outward with his subsequent words, "Let the land we stand on heed my words, and let our shattered moon above bear witness! We will not vanish into the night! We will not perish without a fight! My peers... my friends... no matter what happens tonight, remember what Old Port used to say... 'And how can a man die better, than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods?' For there there isn't a world where I nor those who pledge to fight with me will ever let up our fight for justice until the very end..."

Pausing a final time, Jaune cast a final glance towards the grey-haired light of Beacon atop the mountain of the dead lit under the glow of the broken moon before uttering the final statement, "It is now up to us... to take the final step."

 ** _BABABABOOOM!_**

Startled gasps turned to shouts as students realized that what they thought was the forest was actually a stampede of approaching Grimm. Shouts from that direction were heard before a student was able to make himself heard just enough for the students to understand.

" _GOLIAAAAAATHS_ - _gurk!_ "

And under the rumble of the stampede, his voice could be heard no more as it was cut short before the successive tirade of massive trumpeting of the Grimm charge filled the air, the previous lone voice never to be heard again. At that, Ren came up to Jaune's side with a plan in mind.

"They're headed straight for the auditorium. We can divert them if we use my semblance."

"We?" Jaune echoed curiously, the term sounding foreign yet familiar in his mind.

"Yes, Jaune! _We!_ You must replicate my Aura-barriers so we have a fighting chance!"

The sudden rise in volume snapping the leader into action, Jaune turned to the group with orders at the ready, "Ruby, you take the girls and get everyone you can into the auditorium to keep them safe. Alexander, take some able-bodied students and scout; help Ruby take care of any Grimm that stray too close. Got it?"

A wave of nods before he and Ren turned to face the charge, his attention pulled back when he felt a delicate touch on his arm. He turned to see the nameless girl, feeling his heart wrench at the sight of her sorrowful amber eyes, "Please Jaune... be careful."

With a nod of his own, the knight turned to catch up with his partner with a burst of white Aura until Ren stopped and he caught up.

"This should do it. We'll set up the barricade here."

Jaune raised an unsure brow as he noticed the whites of the massive Grimm's masks now visible in the distance, "Right. About that..."

He turned to face his stoic teammate, who despite his initial confusion at his leader's reaction knew Jaune well enough to know when a helping hand was appreciated.

"Jaune, your Semblance. You're a _Mimic_ , remember? You focus on me, reach out with your Aura, and _execute_."

Only until then did the student realize that the power he'd used upon his partner's death was never his to begin with, so closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he replaced the image of Pyrrha in his mind with that of Ren's. He could already feel the warm glow of his aura spreading outward to absorb the strange quality of the energy foreign to his until it was foreign no more.

"Okay... I think I got it."

"Hm, you haven't sounded so unsure of yourself in a long time, Jaune."

Opening his eyes, he let his gaze linger on the worried boy's countenance until Ren gave him a somber smile and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Funny how things come full circle in the end, right?"

But Jaune would have none of it. Steeling his nerves, he ground his jaw at the oncoming mass of Goliaths before setting himself down into a stance that Ren emulated, the two students side to side as they each began to glow.

"We'll make it out of this, buddy. Ready?"

"Just another day at work," the smirking Ren replied softly for a brief moment before whipping out the command, " _Now!_ "

Both students reacted at once, alternating pulses of fushia and white between the two reaching out to the sides just as the wall of Goliaths overcame them. And with loud trumpeting roars, Grimm calls were replaced with crunches as the front line was crushed against the wall that only became wider by the second, both students yelling with the effort as the barrier reached to the height of the trees the Grimm had trampled and the pressure grew stronger.

"HAHA!" Jaune shouted in triumph as the barricade held firm, the wall of pure energy casting a soft glow into the ominous night. But the creatures were unrelenting, the massive elephant-like beasts resorting to trampling their fallen brethren in their attempts to overcome the obstacle. It would be an impressive sight had there been many a human audience left to admire it.

Seconds turned to minutes as the onslaught continued, beads of sweat forming on the heads of both valiant young men before Ren turned his head to his leader with great effort against the wall they were now supporting even with their shoulders.

"Jaune... there, there was a reason I made sure both of us were here to set this up..."

"Save your breath, man, I know!" Jaune grunted through gritted teeth with the increased weight of half-dead Grimm piling on by the second, "Either one of us would've been trampled by now had we tried to do this alone!"

But Ren merely chuckled softly, readjusting his shoulder against the wall to face the blond as he let out several more Aura pulses to support the wall against another wave, "Heh, you don't remember Port's mid-term lecture from last year, then? I guess I really was the only one who was able to stay awake for the whole thing."

"What are you talking about?" the young man replied with a sharp breath in the effort of speaking.

"The time where Port avoided being eaten alive by a freak incursion of Ursae by hiding under a heap of disintegrating Grimm with the corpse of his comrade over him to mask his scent."

Jaune's brows furrowed before his eyes began to widen in realization, "Hey. _Hey!_ Don't start talking like that, we're _both_ making it out of this, you got that!?"

"We both know there's really no way to stop a stampede of Goliaths," Ren continued with a small knowing smirk without acknowledging his leader's words, "And Goliaths are the only Grimm who never give up until they think they've done their work. We've got a high enough wall of dead Grimm to confuse them for a while, but as long as they sense our resistance, they'll just keep coming... unless..."

"I've never had to say this in the four Oum-forsaken years I've known you Ren, but _shut up!_ You shut up right now and focus, and we'll get out of this!"

The stoic student turned to look at him with the same serene expression he'd always had in better days as he continued, "They have to sense at least one of our deaths to stop coming. It'll give you guys enough time to evacuate the school and stay alive as long as you can, and they need you more than they need me. _She_ needs you, too..."

"Don't do that, Ren... please, think about Nora," Jaune could only croak in his plea as he felt his eyes start to sting with more than just sweat.

"Yes... please tell her I love her very much. And Jaune, know that through these years... you were truly the best brother I ever could've asked for..."

" _Ren_ ," Jaune began, but couldn't continue as the student let his side of the wall falter and fall, the knight himself yelling under the strain until Ren blasted him away with an aura-enhanced dragon-punch to the chest in his vulnerable state, "NOOOOO!"

He flew back and landed, looking up just as the wall of Grimm over a mile long collapsed over his teammate and friend without another sound. And finally, after a long moment of suspenseful silence from the forest, the trumpeting of a lone Goliath was heard before the rumbling began to lessen and eventually disappear.

"It worked... It actually worked," Jaune heaved on all fours as a small line of tears ran down his face. But the relief didn't last long, his small smile of gratitude towards his late friend fading when he noticed a shadow pass over him with nary a sound.

Jerking his head up, Jaune turned and could find nothing as the moonlight became dimmed behind thickening clouds. But there was no mistake with what Jaune had sensed.

Nevermore.

"Hey! _Heeeeeeey!_ " he shouted as he sprinted full-force back towards the auditorium that had more students trickling in by the minute, "Get everyone _out of there!_ "

Ignoring the fact that his aura was currently helping him run at the speed of a race-horse, Jaune pressed forward repeating the same thing and pointing at the sky like a madman until he noticed Yang in the distance poke Ruby in the shoulder as she directed more students into the auditorium and saw the young huntress cup her ear towards him to listen.

"Nevermores!"

He could barely notice her yelling, or more like mouthing ' _What?_ ' in the distance as Yang, Nora and the nameless girl stood beside her, before trying again, " _NEVERMOR_ -!"

 _ **SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH!**_

The sudden whistling sounds a dead giveaway of the feathery projectiles in flight, no one had the chance to react as a hail of obsidian feathers rained down on the makeshift hospital, the entire auditorium exploding and blasting the girls back several feet just as Jaune reached the group.

Groaning aloud in despair, the heavily panting knight fell to his knees at the flaming inferno as the four girls regained their bearings around him and slowly began to stand.

"No..." was all the girl in black could say before Nora walked over to help Jaune up.

"Ren? Where is he?"

Without the heart to say anything more, Jaune took an earnestly surprised Nora into a tight embrace as he finally found it in himself to speak, "He... wanted me to tell you, he loves you very much..."

But softly pushing herself back, she looked at the grief-stricken leader with an entirely innocent expression as she cocked her head to the side, "Really... Where'd he go?"

At that, Jaune's breath hitched as he softly shook his head in indication of the stoic's surmise, Ruby placing a hand on her mouth in shock and Yang letting her head drop at the news. But Nora simply looked at the two girls before turning to Jaune with only slightly furrowed brows, "No... No, Renny's fine..."

Despite it being the first time either of the four students present had seen Nora without her ever-present smile, she looked as normal as she ever did. But they all caught the tears welling in her eyes as she slowly shook her head and continued, "No, he's okay. H-He's just... He's just, playing hide-and-go-seek again like we always did when w-we were kids..."

"Jaune, it's circling back," the nameless ravenette warned as Nora shook off Jaune's attempt to put his hand on her shoulder, repeating her warning with much more urgency the second time as rainfall began to cascade around the ruined campus, "Guys, it sees us! We need to move!"

Turning up, Ruby and the girl began motioning for the rest of the group to follow them towards the ruined courtyard in front of the school to find cover under the broken arches of the structures as the knight pleaded with his only remaining teammate.

"Nora? Nora, it's time to go... please come with us."

But no matter how hard he tried, even though she was on the shorter side, Nora had the strength of ten oxen when she didn't want to move. Nevertheless, it didn't deter her leader even when he heard the cawing of the quickly-approaching avian Grimm.

"Nora, please! We gotta go!"

"Sorry, Jauney... but no. I'm gonna go find Ren now."

Realizing what she meant as she dropped the hammer which no one else could ever hope to wield without the super-strength imbued to her by her Semblance onto the the now soggy dirt, Yang gripped Jaune by the shoulders and began to pull him back. Hard.

"Jaune, there's no time! We're leaving!"

The knight's subsequent yells went unheard in the midnight air as the whistling sounds began once more, reaching back towards his teammate as the tear-ridden brawler dragging him backwards pressed on. Soft splats in the soaked dirt began as Nora turned to give him a final glance, sparing him a serene smile just before the avian missiles that barely missed his feet found their fill of marks in the orange-haired girl only several feet away.

The smile never left her face.

Finally finished dragging the 21 year-old fourth-year leader who was kicking and screaming like a little kid the whole way under the courtyard arches where the other two girls were waiting, Yang fell to her knees beside him as the other two girls did the same in a grieved embrace.

He was a knight without a kingdom... a student without a school... and now, a leader without a team. His lone, agonized howl filled the air as the three sobbing young women held onto him dearly under the heavy rainfall, his aura flaring with the intent to eviscerate the Nevermore circling above them before the Grimm was suddenly shot out of the air with a single brilliant energy beam from an approaching Bullhead.

Yet the four students already knew that the marked airship was no herald of salvation, the blonde brawler's eyes already turning a deep red as she stood up and spat out a single word.

" _Them_."

Yes, Juane thought... _they_ had finally come. And they would pay.

 _Dearly_.

* * *

 ** _BZZ... BZZ... BZZ..._**

Jolting up in surprise from a tiny puddle of drool on the table, John reaches into his pocket for his cellphone and tries to wipe his mouth with his free hand at the same time. But realizing his mouth was completely dry, John sighs as he reaches up a little higher and quickly wipes his eyes before anyone else notices. The golden white iPhone finally out of its confines, its interesting color scheme having finally brought the young man to buy it for reasons beyond him, he notices his roommate's name on the Caller ID.

 _Lee, Ben_

"Yeah, hello?"

' _Hey. Everything okay?_ '

"Yeah... why?"

' _Cuz according to Nora, you're not. She sent me a text a minute ago saying that you were out like a light at White Castle and nothing she did could wake you up. I found it hard to believe since you only sleep like that in your own bed, but after about a dozen unanswered texts, I figured I'd call._ '

"Well thanks for checking if I'm alive," John answers lazily with a stretch, finally noticing the coffee mug sitting in front of him which had stopped steaming already, "And now that we're enjoying the small-talk, how are _you_ today, sweetie?"

An amused scoff from the other end of the line before the reply comes through, ' _Meh. Just another day at work..._ '

"..."

' _John_ _? ...John!_ '

The sudden rise in volume snaps the startled young man back into the moment, swallowing the unexpected knot in his throat before replying, "Yeah, man! Jeez, no need to shout..."

' _Look, John. You haven't been yourself these past days-_ '

" _No one's_ been 'themselves' these past few days," John spits back, screwing his eyes shut to block out the images of darkness suddenly cascading through his mind, " _You_ should know that more than anyone..."

' _ **Hey!** Totally uncalled for, man! What's gotten into you!?_ '

Death. Death everywhere. So much... _too much_...

John grabs his hair with a growl, so suddenly angry and filled with despair for reasons he can't explain until he finally regains enough composure to settle down in his booth and take a deep breath.

"I... I'm sorry, dude. Things have been weird lately. And I think... I think I just had the weirdest feeling of déjà-vu..."

The young blonde hears a long sigh through the phone before Ben continues with a slightly amused tone in his voice, ' _Déjà-vu? As in the feeling of having experienced something before, sometimes even in another life? I thought you weren't into that kind of thing, man..._ '

"Heh, yeah, that was always kinda more _your_ thing," John shoots back with a more relaxed smirk, "But maybe I can start getting into it someday."

' _You... are the strangest guy I know._ '

"Which is why we get along so well!" John exclaims before taking a long sip of his now-cold coffee and immediately regrets it with a wrinkled nose in distaste before checking his watch, "Anyway, it's a good thing you woke me up since otherwise I'd be late to work!"

But before he can stand, he's stopped by the rare laugh that blares through the line, at least rare from his roommate, ' _HAH! John, it's Saturday! I'm the only one who works on Saturday! Eeeeesh, you really ARE out of whack these days..._ '

Grunting in exasperation as he checks the date on his cellphone and confirms the fact, John plops back down on the booth before idly sighing into his phone, "I hate you."

' _Yeah, yeah,_ ' Ben continues amiably before snapping his fingers hard enough to be heard through the line, ' _Aha! I got it! Norah and me, we're gonna find you a girlfriend. Yep. You know, we invited that girl from high school to Monty's memorial and she's already RSVP'ed. Which means that she's coming back into town this weekend... what was her name... Jun, Juni..._ '

"Juniper Nichols?" John drawls in reply, eliciting another amused exclamation from the other young man.

' _Ahhhhhh, I knew you remembered her! I'm telling you John, everyone in school knew she was crushing on you so bad, I still can't believe nothing ever came of it._ '

"Maybe cuz it wasn't true?" John retorts with a small smile at the banter, "So she tutored me for a few years. So what? Didn't she like, go on to win four trophies in the national track and field competitions or something?"

' _Heh yeah, I hear she's a beast with the javelin and discus,_ ' Ben adds understandingly, ' _I think she'll be going to the Olympics next year or something, too_.'

"Then there you go."

' _T-There you- Wha!? -NO,_ ' the unusually enthusiastic young man continues through the line, ' _You may have been the only guy in the school district not drooling at her heels at one point or another, she totally loved that!_ '

John facepalms before answering, "Remind me why I'm even _considering_ dating advice from a single guy who has yet to have a girlfriend?"

' _Aw. Low blow, John. Low blow. It's because we've agreed to be the best man at each other's weddings already. And besides, you know how possessive Norah tends to be..._ '

"Well, then why not consider getting together with Norah?"

' _..._ '

"You know, uh... together-together?"

' _Dude... No,_ ' Ben finally replies with the most incredulous tone John could imagine, ' _She and I have known each other since little kids. As in, 'swimming naked as toddlers in the kiddie pool' kids. You don't GET with a swimming-naked-toddler-buddy, John. Why would you even say that?_ '

John sheepishly scratches the back of his head as he considers the unbidden thought of the two polar-opposite best friends actually getting together, "Uh... I actually don't know. I know it's weird, but... I just have this feeling that it'd work out."

' _Heh. Whatever you say. First the mood swings, then the crazy ideas... look man, just don't go losing your mind at my brother's memorial tomorrow, alright?_ '

"It's _tomorrow?_ " John asks in surprise, completely having lost track of time in the past few days.

' _Yeahhh_ ,' Ben drawls in concern, ' _I hope you're ready for it. Lots of people were invited, and you know the kinds of people he used to roll with... product designers, important humanitarian activists, and even a few models and millionaires! You never know who you're gonna meet..._ '

A glint from some utensil, probably, catches John's eye as a few customers move out from the booth in front of him. But then he sees it. For a second, just a second... he sees it.

He _knows_ he saw it... but, could it even be _possible?_

' _John... you still there?_ '

The young man's attention remains riveted to another flash of black about three booths down as he mumbles in reply, "Um, uh, yeah... Look, Ben, I'm gonna have to call you back... thanks for calling, though."

' _Uhh... oka-_ ' _CLICK_

John remains frozen to the spot after hanging up, not even thinking to move lest the spell be broken on whatever twist of fate, or irony, had just befallen him. Either way, his view is currently blocked by a non-descript young man maybe a year or two older than him, toiling away as he writes into a mess of manuscript papers strewn about on the table in front of him.

The blonde indulges himself with a guess at the young man's profession; surely a writer, but not in the New York City garb that might characterize a high-profile author. Maybe a ghostwriter? Or probably scribe. But in reaching over for a paper at the end of the table, the young writer moves just enough to grant John a second view of the item that had caught his attention in the first place.

A little, black, bow.

Just the sight of it is enough to send the blonde into a catatonic state as scenes from... somewhere else... begin to flood his mind once more.

* * *

They were running now.

They? For some reason, Jaune was tempted to turn his head just a little to see who remained as they sped through sheets of rain in the night.

He stopped holding his breath when he saw the girl in black, her garb further tattered in battle and her bow beginning to come undone, but otherwise healthy.

Then there was Yang, who despite her usual scant gear didn't seem too much worse for wear. Of course, her Semblance. It had something to do with that, though it was then a deceptive guess at the actual amount of Aura she had remaining to the eyes of any average onlooker.

And then... wait, that was it?

Jaune focused forward as the trio ran on, his memory quick to fill in the gaps.

Yes... _They_ had come. And to make matters short, neither of the four students at the time would end the night free of bloodguilt. Jaune, his armor long gone during the arduous battles of the night, was the first to receive his marks of having his first life taken, using the Semblance of the young man with greaves like Yang's gauntlets on his ankles against him until the youth was nothing more than a shriveled husk of a being withering on the marbled courtyard. Ruby was the second, going faster than she'd ever gone before to scythe down the girl with the emerald gunblades who let her overconfidence get to her in the end.

But that was the moment... the moment the young crimsonette froze in time and space in realization of the life she'd taken when her very own was extinguished as well by the thin chokuto which mercilessly tore through her heart. The umbrella-totting assailant who had been the prodigy's undoing met her own grim fate at the fists of the blonde brawler... Yang never stopped until her fists met concrete as well as flesh, but not before the girl in black finally left the bowler-hatted leader of the group with a crimson smile which all the rain in the world would never wash away.

And then the Grimm returned. The wall of deceased Goliaths lining the forest edge now washed away, the creatures returned with unimaginable numbers as the landscape went black under the occasional crack of thunder to surround the students. And now the trio was forced to retreat to the only safe structure remaining, the central spire which had once been the defining landmark of the Academy.

"Cover me!" was the only thing Jaune shouted as he bounded to the elevator door, mashing the elevator button with all his might as Yang and the ravenette took their places behind them and gunned down the faster beasts that tried to get them.

Finally opening, the three young adults tumbled into the space, the nameless girl rolling to point and gun down a final Beowolf with the last of her clip.

"That was the last of my ammo," she admitted in muted exhaustion as Yang let the bountiful shells eject from her still-bloodied gauntlets with an unreadable expression.

"Yeah."

 _Ding!_

And finally opening at the top floor, the sight of the clockwork office that overlooked the entire campus which once would've brought awe to the students was now replaced with a mess of shattered glass and wrought iron gears, the entire roof - the beacon of the school itself - blown off and cast asunder.

Looking out over the edge of what used to be the window-side of the office, the girl in black rolled her shoulders as Jaune came up to her side to see the black mass of Grimm already scaling the walls of the building itself, "So, I take it this is where me make our last stand."

But before Jaune could nod in agreement, the pair was interrupted by his fellow blonde.

"Sorry, guys, but that's not exactly how I wanted to go."

Each turning to face the brawler who was standing at the center of the room, Yang reached down deep between her ample cleavage to pull out what looked like a single shell for her weapons... except with a black skull etched onto it with permanent marker.

"Put this bad boy together myself with my own little cocktail of Dust... Red, with a pinch of as much Black as I could find. I had a back-up one just in case, but I guess I must've lost it in our dorm..."

Jaune turned to see the amber-eyed woman beside him retort in surprise, "Yang, Black Dust is illegal! How'd you even..."

"The whole _world_ went to the crapper in less than a week!" Yang noted with a flare, quickly checking her outburst much to her friends' surprise, "Getting my hands on some Black Dust for a time like this wasn't hard... _I_ call it the Strawberry Sunrise; it'd be perfect with a little umbrella, actually... Ruby would've loved the pun..."

But wiping a single tear from her eye, the once fun-loving young woman turned her back on the pair as she made her decision clear, "You guys can stay if you want; but if you don't, I suggest you get far _fast_. This ain't gonna be your everyday firecracker, and I'm gonna take as many of these bastards with it as I can..."

Trading a now very concerned glance, Jaune and the nameless girl peeked over the side of the spire once more to see that the Grimm were already over halfway up the building. Knowing Yang had made up her mind and now aware that there was no time to argue, the girl spoke first.

"Jaune, my Semblance. It's the fastest way, and we're high enough to cover some serious ground before the Grimm reach us."

Cocking his head to the side in a brief moment of hesitation, she gave him the smallest smiles before gingerly picking up his bloodied hands in hers, "It's okay... do your thing."

The knight nodded before shutting his eyes and replacing the lingering image of Ren in his mind with that of the girl. He grimaced when even replicating her unique ability failed to grant him knowledge of her name, but like a sudden rush of adrenaline, Jaune figured out why he cared about her so much.

Her aura, the manifestation of her very being, was wrought with pain and turmoil. But the shade of her soul was naught but a shadow cast by the burning willpower she had forged within to overcome it, and Jaune now knew that every moment spent now was a fight to win another precious moment of life spent with _her_. Otherwise, why fight at all? Humanity was dead, the Grimm had killed it... but for the girl he'd come to care for - dare he say _love?_ \- so much, every risk he took was worth its weight in gold.

And maybe it's because he now understood the nature of her Semblance in its entirety, or maybe because the logic of jumping off a building hundreds of feet high finally clicked in his mind, but Jaune now realized that the score of _this_ particular risk was certainly one for the books.

"Got it," the knight finally began as faint claw strikes against steel below them could be heard along with the pouring rain, "And you're insane, you know that? Any idea how we're going to make this work?"

The girl with the alluring amber eyes merely gripped his hand a little harder before flashing him arguably the most incredible grin he'd ever see.

" _Together._ "

And suddenly sprinting towards the broken office vista with the knight in tow, the girl leapt into the air without an iota of hesitation. The sudden sensation of so much nothing between his feet and the ground locking his limbs as the rush of wind began increasing all around him, the girl released his hand with a smile and pointed toward the cliffs at the front of the academy.

"That should be far enough! Shadow-leap on my mark!"

"What!? That's more than a mile away!"

"Jaune, just trust me!" she retorted with what almost looked like a silent giggle, and just like that, his worry vanished. She already knew he could trust her with his life as much as he did, so he relaxed to spring into action the moment she spoke, " _Now!_ "

And so the intricate dance began, the two students redirecting their downwards momentum forward and now shadow-vaulting off of their clones left in the air until their trajectory was nearly parallel with the floor, the cracks of lightning lighting their new positions dozens of feet apart as they soared through the air faster than the eye could follow. Watching her as she glided through the rain with nary a twitch in her expression, focused on the landing spot yet enjoying the flight as much as he was, Jaune couldn't help yelping with the thrill of the flight as they each shadow-vaulted over and under each other's aural clones several times more to keep going. His grin growing wider as he realized that she too was giggling softly at the truly unmatchable acrobatic feat, Jaune refocused as she deftly flipped over and around a few more of her shadow clones to approach his side and continue with the next command, "Alright, now we let ourselves fall as close to the edge as possible to get as far away from the tower as we can! Grab my hand to keep us steady, and on my mark, send as many clones as you can to push us back and slow our descent until we can stick a landing, ready?"

As the cliffs where the air docks were once situated to bring knowledge-hungry students to the place which would never more be able to provide it at intimidatingly fast speeds, Jaune grabbed her hand to let them lose altitude and readied to brace himself when she finally gave the command, "Do it now!"

 _fftfftfftfftfftfftfftfft_...

Jaune pressed his mental abilities to the limit as he imagined a trail of clones lining the air to push him back while soaring through them, each projection reaching its limit and bursting into ambient energy from the force in milliseconds as the girl did the same on her side. Finally no more than a half dozen feet from the ground, the pair of soaked students free fell to the floor, their remaining forwards momentum sending them skidding across the muddy ground all the way to the very end of the cliff. Never letting go of her arm, Jaune dug his feet as far into the soggy dirt as he could with a strained yell until they finally came to a stop, the ends of the girl's legs dangling off the edge of the mile-high cliff. Standing up, the panting knight pulled her up as well while taking a peek over the vertigo-inducing drop.

"I dunno. I think we could've managed to land a few inches closer to the edge, don't you?"

Catching her breath, she rolled her eyes at him with a scoff before bringing herself closer to him anyways to let her head drop against his chest in a mix of gratitude and exhaustion. Still hesitating despite the freedom she'd just taken in breaching his personal space, an action he was sure she repeated with no one else, Jaune slowly lifted his arm around her to let her sink into him further. The rain fell like the world around them, both of them sharing the moment in silence until a light too steady and bright to be lightning brought their attention to the top of the spire.

The Grimm had reached the top, and both students watched as the blonde brawler lit the remainder of her fiery aura at once to ignite the mix of explosive Red Dust and radioactive Black Dust cradled against her bosom. And in a second too long, or a moment too short, they watched the entire tower and campus surrounding it go up in a wonderfully destructive spere-like cloud of rose-gold energy in an intriguingly silent explosion in the distance.

 _ **-oooooooom...**_

"She went on her own terms," Jaune finally spoke to break the silence as it was clear that the explosion had eradicated the Grimm in the surrounding area with so much force that it managed to push the higher clouds away from the vicinity and grant them a temporary reprieve in the heavy rainfall.

"With a bang," the girl finished sullenly before glancing at the view of the kingdom the teens had from the impressively high cliff as the night turned to look at her.

* * *

The waning light coincides with the second glint that catches John's eye and snaps him out of his daydream, except this time, the glint is on purpose. John refocuses to see the writer in the booth down from him with a polished spoon in hand and a small smirk at his own successful ploy. Crap, was John staring at him without realizing it!?

His frown of discomfort is assayed when the unnamed writer glances behind himself at the owner of the very real black bow before shaking his head at John with a knowing smile. Gathering his things, he finally stands, granting John the longest moment in his life as he sees her for himself for the first time.

The dark-haired beauty sat without noticing anyone else in the restaurant as she stared at nothing in particular out the window. From that John could tell, she wore the bow over a small streak of violet-dyed hair, a color she matched well with the hue of violet she used as eye-shadow over her slightly cat-like upturned hazel eyes that almost look amber in the morning light.

The spell broken once again as he realizes the young writer approaching him, John turns to hear him as he passes by, "She's all yours, man. Good luck."

Turning back to face her, he almost gasps when the image of a girl he'd known yet never met staring at a dying world superimposes itself over her; bloodied and disheveled, but otherwise the same.

"No way... it, it can't be..."

She still doesn't notice him, but he takes the writer's words to heart as oral courage and begins scooting towards the edge of his booth to stand, all the while watching the unreal reality continue to unfold in front of his vision like an incredible anomaly of what he can only describe as subconscious duality.

* * *

 _The view from the cliff is of a world on fire, lit in rain and drenched in flame._

 _Jaune continues watching the girl fight back a futile tear in her eyes which have long since run dry at the acceptance of her fate before she finally speaks without looking up at him._

 _"So this... This is how Remnant dies. In unending flame."_

* * *

Remnant. Her world... It was called Remnant.

John is finally standing, checking his shirt, tie and breath before daring to move forward.

* * *

 _The nameless beauty in his arms continues to stare into the distant inferno, no longer able to bear watching the final hope in her quest to rid the world of all its evils consumed by the darkness itself._

 _"Cinder will be coming for us, you know," she suddenly adds, causing the knight to furrow his brows, "I will no longer be of any use; that jump used up the last of my aura... but you can still run. You can leave this place..."_

 _The words cut straight to the heart, the knight rendered speechless for a moment at the girl who looks down without meeting his gaze. But then they see it - a distant explosion from what used to be the headquarters of the Valean Council blossoming into a spherical cloud of crimson flame. It doesn't take long to realize the unnatural phenomenon its on its way to Beacon._

 _Nevertheless, the knight returns his gaze to the girl in front of him._

 _"To live at the cost of your life? I'd be dead all the same," Jaune replies without missing a beat, "So no. We stand together. We die together. That crazy witch might've won, but it won't stop us from giving her hell when she gets here."_

* * *

John takes his first step, now able to better see her wardrobe. Clearly not very high maintenance, the girl is wearing a thin black vest over a sleeveless white tee, an aesthetic contrast over her maroon denim leggings that lead into a pair of black calf-length hiking boots that slowly oscillate freely at the end of her crossed legs under the table. A book lies on the table, one hand cradling the cover while the thumb from the other idly rests in the page where she left off.

However, John stops short upon looking at the table between their booths, noticing a single leaf of paper with a simple sketch of a flame on it... or maybe a flower?

Picking it up, he examines it for a moment before turning away from the girl in the direction the young writer just went, "Hey, I think you left... something..."

* * *

 _The girl takes a single breath before sighing aloud, turning up to Jaune with a melancholic longing gaze that sends cracks rippling through his heart._

 _"Somehow, I knew you might say that," she finally lets out with a humorless chuckle, or maybe crack in her voice, before taking his hands in hers and locking her gaze with his, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry I never gave this a chance..."_

 _Wait, what is she talking about?_

 _"...it sounds really ironic now, but I'd hoped we'd have time after graduating to continue getting to know each other. For me to let you into my heart..."_

 _The girl screws her eyes shut, a new tear - not of despair, but if regret - fighting its way out only to be caught by the thumb of the knight whose hand slowly caresses the side of her face. Letting her cheek lean into the warmth of his touch, she opens her eyes as she places her hand above his._

 _"I love you. And I should've told you before... I only wish we had a chance to make this work..."_

* * *

John sighs as he realizes the young man is long gone, turning back to the crude drawing before folding it up and placing it in his pocket.

But in a chance glance upwards, his breath hitches as he realizes the girl had been watching him with furrowed brows until her eyes suddenly widen... with recognition? With surprise? John can't be sure, but he catches her stealthily pulling up her book and picking up where she left off before she thinks he can catch her.

He takes another step forward.

* * *

 _The weight of those three words hit the knight like a truck, lifting his spirits while breaking his heart with the admission. Yet his smile does not waver._

 _"Maybe we will have a better chance. In a better time. In a better life."_

 _"I thought you dint believe in that kind of thing..."_

 _"Heh, yeah, that was always kinda more Ren's thing," Jaune retorts with a hint of a smirk, "But maybe I can start getting into it someday."_

 _The girl returns a warmer smile before going up on her toes to kiss Jaune's cheek. The young man reels from the sensation, letting his eyes meet her blushing visage as the ball of crimson flame draws closer through the night._

* * *

John is just behind the booth seat across from the girl and can already tell that she's doing anything but reading. Satisfied with his deduction, he remains standing there with a smug smile until she finally lowers the book from in front of her face, the black bow giving way to her blushing expression and an apologetic smile.

John used to laugh at those he once thought were too easily carried away by a young woman's looks, but right now, there's no other word to describe him with but _smitten_.

* * *

 _"Hey. It may take a moment, it may take a lifetime... but if you can wait for me, I will find you. I promise you that."_

 _A single tear falls from her face as she tilts her head and gives him a wry smile._

 _"Heh. Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep, Jaune."_

 _"No... I intend to keep this one."_

* * *

John musters all the confidence he's got in the next breath he takes. Confidence... all women look for is confidence, right?

"Uhhh," great start, John, "This seat taken?"

Her same apologetic smile growing just a fraction wider in the most adorable way, she simply shakes her head.

* * *

 _An arch of fire roars through the night. The ball of ethereal flame halts merely a few dozen feet from the surviving youths, tendrils of blood red aura circling the maddened flaming eyes of the pale queen within._

 _Cinder Fall has arrived._

* * *

The young blonde sits down, ignoring the rising blush in his own cheeks.

* * *

 _"And I intend to hold you to it," the girl continues, even though the pair turn to face the Mad Queen herself as they reach back to grip their trusty weapons, "May we meet again, in a better life."_

* * *

"Do I... know you?"

John shakes his head in turn. There is a wry-half smile on her face, her raised brow accenting the touch of cat-eye liner at the corner of her eye.

* * *

 _The two fighters, divided by their dying world but united in their hope for a better one, draw their weapons at the invincible foe. The royal enchantress grins as she raises up a single hand and dozens of flaming lights appear around her floating throne._

 _At that, a single memory Jaune recovers from the beginning of the night blooms into an idea._

* * *

"Well then. Have we met before?"

* * *

 _The knight and the nightshade trade nods and ready themselves to leap over the edge to take the witch down with them, but not before turning to each other to exchange their final words._

 _"I love you, Jaune. I'll see you on the other side."_

* * *

"You know what... I do believe we have," John finally states with a grin as he reaches his hand across the table in greeting, "The name's John Luna."

* * *

 _And with a final yell, they leap into the void as Cinder snaps her fingers with a mad cackle to send dozens of flaming arcs of fire to converge on them in midair..._

 _...but not before Jaune pulls out the second skull-etched shell-casing from under his hoodie to take the brunt of the flame only inches away from her. The girl beside him smiles as she recognizes the Strawberry Sunrise._

 _"I love you, too... Blake. Don't wait up."_

* * *

The girl puts down her book, glancing at John's hand and back at him before finally offering hers in return with a warm smile.

"I'm Blake. Blake Belladonna."

* * *

 **A/N:** _Hi there! **TPS** here! As many of you know, after a hiatus I tend to start up my mojo again by taking a jab at a new story. In this case, it's actually a **reboot** of one of my favorite stories ever by **ElysiaDreaming**. So six months later after talking to Elysia, I've finally gotten around to doing the reboot heh -_-_

 _Anyway, due to **TGG** and all, I'm kinda planning for this to be a **twoshot** for now, stretching further than the original story and explaining the premise to this AU and the scope of the quest these modern day characters have in front of them. Oh, and the introduction of the rest of modern day RWBY. Obviously :]_

 _As soon as I'm ready to go further than that, I'll be recruiting a certain **beta** I'd also spoken to about this story a long while back. You know who you are ;)_

 _In conclusion, after having made my intentions clear, I still leave the final decision to **you** as I always have, dear reader. Want to see more **Remnants Reloaded**? Then **Fave, Follow and Review** to show your support! For those who worry about **The Gamer Girl** : don't worry, it's in the works, and I'm adding a special little **surprise** that I hope you guys like ;D_

 _Bah! Enough of my ranting and teasing! As always, take care,_

 _ **And Happy Reading!**_

P.S.: All places mentioned in John's world are actual places in New Jersey and New York, USA. Also, any similarity of characters to a certain non-fictional author is _totally_ intended ^,^

P.P.S.: As usual, this story has a butt-ton of references for people as weird as I am to find :)


	2. Chapter 2

_**Reconciliation**_

* * *

John had just experienced possibly the most emotionally charged moments in his life. Not only that, but he had seen arguably _the_ most beautiful young woman he'd ever met before actually approaching her. And to top it all off, John had overcome the largest mental hurdle he could imagine in starting a real life conversation with her.

But now...

John is striking out... terribly.

"Ladies love it?" Blake echoes with vague amusement and a raised brow.

John chuckles nervously at her from across the table, mentally facepalming himself for what is likely his cheesiest line ever uttered in reply to her polite compliment about his name after giving him hers.

"Well, I mean, my moth- you know what? It's a silly thing that popped into my head, so I just went with it," John sputters out in his attempt to recover, readjusting himself in his seat as the young woman spares him a small smile.

"You tend to do things that simply 'pop into your head' often?"

Her smile widens into a knowing smirk as John realizes that she's referring to his current position at her booth, her rhetoric giving her an upper hand that he knows he'll fail to recover from if he can't get back on level ground with her quick enough.

"Well yeah," he retorts, crossing his arms on the table in front of him and slightly leaning forward with what he hopes is a confident smile, "I'd hate to miss an opportunity to rekindle ties with an old acquaintance."

"And if I'm not an old acquaintance?" Blake shoots back in rebuttal without missing a beat, her brow still raised in her amused expression which only tells John that she's giving him yet another chance... _like a cat playing with a ball of yarn_ , the thought unexpectedly crosses his mind.

Unfazed, John simply replies, "Well if you're not, then that's fine, too. Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."

Her smile faltering for just a moment after hearing his last statement, Blake finally gives him an accepting nod as her expression returns to normal and she leans forward just a fraction of a degree.

"Alright. Think you can tell me where we've met before?"

John hums in thought, letting his eyes wander out the window before blinking at what looked like a towering archaic structure in the distance. Quickly shaking his head, he refocuses on the strangely familiar building only to see that it was the prominent New York City skyline over the horizon.

"Well that's where it gets a little tricky," John drawls as he turns to face her with a raised brow, enjoying how she then ticks her head to the side in curiosity before he continues, "You from around here?"

At that, the ravenette sitting across from John lets her gaze drop for a moment, eyes darting across her book for a second as if she were unsure how to reply, "Um, no... I'm actually just passing through to pay my respects to an old friend and producer who recently passed away. And... for some other business."

"I see," John replies, his curiosity getting the better of him as well as he watches the girl who has yet to let their gazes meet again, "His name... it wouldn't happen to be Monty Lee, would it?"

Blake's expression suddenly takes a turn for the brighter as recognition dawns on her features and she turns to face John again, "You knew Monty?"

"Eh, not really," John admits with a sheepish shrug, "I've been good friends with his younger brother since high-school, but I didn't really get to know Monty much. I doubt you and me met through him. I take it you're going to his memorial tomorrow?"

"Among other things," Blake replies blithely as he settles back into her seat with a sigh, "In any case, I suppose we've reached an impasse. We can neither identify any previous acquaintance nor explain any reason for the confusion. I guess it was just a misunderstan- oof, do you smell that?"

John furrows his brows at the sudden expression of distaste she makes, scrunching her nose and furrowing her own brows in a way he has to admit is more adorable than anything else. Looking around, John spots a heavy-set man sitting at the counter just a few feet away from the side of their table getting served a fresh steamy morning sausage, egg and cheese sandwich into a to-go bag... with extra sausage. Turning to glance at the ravenette's expression of utter disgust at the meal, John quickly curbs his automatic reaction to salivate at the meat as he turns his attention back to her.

"Um... I take it you don't like the smell of meat. You a vegan or something?"

Blake purses her lips in thought as she tilts her head down, causing her to readjust her bow on her head before it slides too far our of place, "Kind of, but not exactly. I uh, it's sort of hard to explain to people who don't know what it is, but I avoid nearly all animal products other than-"

"Pescatarian," John finishes abruptly, causing Blake to turn up to meet his gaze with a raised brow and small smirk.

"Yes... actually. I have this unbearable weakness for fish. How'd you guess?"

John opens his mouth about to answer, but finds himself shutting it as he realizes there really isn't any to give. He hums in question, tapping his chin before finally giving up with a shrug, "You know what? I'm not sure... I guess you just strike me as someone who can't stay away from seafood. For some reason, tuna comes to mind specifically."

"Hm, then maybe we _have_ met before," she muses aloud with a smile, her hazel eyes glinting amber again in the reflected light from outside as a car passes the window beside them.

"I'm sure there are plenty of sushi places we might've bumped into each other in the past."

The remark causes the young woman to giggle, an endearing show of emotion as she holds a hand up to her mouth so as not to seem uncouth but unwittingly letting her bow drop off her head in the process.

"Oops, must've left it tied too loosely. One sec," she states as she turns to pick up the black ribbon on the side of her seat, giving John a view of a grinning Norah approaching his table from behind with a hot coffee... and his custom-ordered meat mountain on eggs.

"No, _no!_ " John half-mouths, half-whispers at the suddenly surprised ginger waitress as he stiffly motions her away with his hand outside of Blake's vision. Stopping in place, Norah cocks her head to the side at him before Blake straightens up with her bow back in place, to which John quickly readjusts himself with elbows on table and as calm a smile as he can muster at her.

"Is... everything okay?" Blake asks with an amused smile at John's clearly not-so-calm demeanor, catching his brief glance over her shoulder at the young waitress who is finally beginning to put two and two together.

But turning to follow John's glance, Blake misses Norah suddenly notice her action and activate her stealth mode as she abruptly tosses the food and mug to the side before diving behind the counter. John facepalms at his friend's utter failure to accommodate for the very unsubtle result of her action in the form of _sound_.

 _ **CRASH!**_

Jumping up in a huff, Norah straightens out her coffee-stained blouse as John and Blake - along with most of the other customers - watch her quickly look around the restaurant in a rather convincing show of anger, " _Hey!_ Who... _Who_ left their food just lying around on the floor like that!? I'll break his legs!"

Blake turns back slowly to face John with wide eyes, evidently trying to hold back a chuckle before finally stating, "You know, I think she'd actually do it, too..."

John shakes his head with a chuckle, giving the flustered waitress a relieved thumbs-up under the table before replying, "Heh, just don't give her a weapon."

"I can only imagine the havoc she'd wreak with a bat..."

 _Or a hammer_ , John suddenly thinks to himself, causing him some lingering form of shell-shock as he glances with a fading smirk at the goofy waitress picking up the mess.

A hammer, in the rain, planted in the soggy earth as its owner lies impaled on the ground beside it...

"John... John?"

Brought back to the moment by the unexpected contact from the hand of the dark-haired beauty in front of him on his forearm, John fights back a rush of blood to his head from a storm of emotions he hadn't quite felt before... or thought that he hadn't felt before... before clearing his throat with a small smile.

"Y-Yeah?"

"Hm, thought I lost you there for a moment," Blake noted with a slightly concerned expression before leaning back in her seat and falling back to her idly content smile, "I was just asking if you were vegan by any chance."

"Uh, y-no. No, I don't think I could be completely vegan for too long. Unless you count chicken parmesan as vegan."

Giving him a deadpan, Blake finally shakes her head with a restrained chuckle, "That would be a _no_. Monty used to talk about going vegan but never got around to it himself..."

She then lets her gaze drift outside the window as she had when the blonde had first seen her, letting out a small sigh before continuing, "I hear he blamed this fast-food chain for making him consider it in the first place; that he used to come here often anyways to think up new ideas for his productions and art series..."

John, recovering from the lingering buzz in his head that for a moment almost feels like the after-shock of a literal explosion, then asks in curiosity, "Then I'd say you've heard quite a bit about him. How'd you two know each other?"

Once again, Blake hesitates for just a moment, letting her gaze run down and over her book and table before slowly bringing them up to John's, "Well a few years ago... in better days... Monty helped a group of animal rights activists I work with design our logo and group-specific apparel. He was actually an integral part in our program before a new leader stepped up to handle our group... he and I kept in touch after that, but drifted apart with time. It seems time has its way of pulling everything apart, I suppose."

"Not everything," John catches himself saying without realizing, the girl's expression slowly softening into the first warm smile at him that he'd seen her give since telling him her name. And all at once, he felt that he'd do anything to keep it there as he breaks out a small smile in turn.

"...You know, I honestly don't know why I feel like I know you from somewhere, but I do," Blake finally states with a short laugh, shaking her head at the young man, "Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have let you get past the whole _'Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue'_ bit."

John chuckles as he replies, "Hey, someday I'm sure there _will_ be a lady who loves it!"

"And it'll be a sad day indeed," Blake replies with a melodramatic tone before her phone buzzes, causing her to quickly take it out and glance at the device.

John can't help a small snort as he internally remarks, _A gold and white iPhone... what a coincidence._

But in noting the device, he accidentally sees the name on the screen just before she answers it.

 _Torres, Adan_

Silently cursing at herself, Blake mutters quickly as she gathers her things into the black tote sitting under the table by her feet, "It's my boyfriend. I have to answer this."

John gives no reply as the sudden feeling of an 18-wheeler slamming him in the face causes him to reel in place.

That... can't be right. All this? The coincidence? The timing? And she's already _taken!?_

"Bu-, bwah-, um, okay?" John can barely mutter as Blake quickly mumbles a few things into the line and stands before placing the phone on mute and glancing at the blonde with the same apologetic smile she had in the beginning.

"You know, you're likely one of the most awkward conversation starters I've ever met," she begins bluntly, flashing John a quick grin as he visibly balks at the remark without any control of the redness that rises in his cheeks, before she stills his reaction with a brief touch to his shoulder with her free hand, "But for what it's worth, don't change a thing. It's... oddly endearing, actually."

The conflicting emotions crashing in John's head like a small group of freight trains, he merely replies with a drawn out chuckle, "Hehhhh..."

"So, see you tomorrow?" she adds quickly, John catching a hint of a blush at her own cheeks before she retracts her hand to adjust the tote strap on her shoulder. He shakes off the notion of possibly reciprocated emotion... _due to her current situation,_ he mentally adds darkly... before working up a small pseudo-smile.

"I uh, yeah. See you then. Hopefully."

Blake is no longer able to answer as she takes the phone off mute and gives him a silent wave before turning and leaving with the impressive feat of barely making a sound. But John doesn't notice that as he props his head on his hands and groans aloud before Norah quickly passes by to drop off the check for both parties, causing him to groan again.

" _Better be ready for tomorrow,_ he said. _You'll never know who you'll meet,_ he said," John mutters angrily at his roommate's previous comments as he drops the printed total of cash onto the table, "At least Norah gave me a decent discount."

And without another word, John stands before making his way out towards the side door, glancing down behind him as he notices that the door doesn't close after he exits. To ensure that no one is following him, he takes a few steps forward while still looking back at the door which must clearly be broken to stay open mid-hinge like that. Well who cares if the door is broken!

 _Screw that door._

But no sooner does John finish the thought when he walks into the hood of a stationary car in the middle of the parking lot. Turning to face the driver in his boiling blood, John's oncoming wave of colorful language comes to a screeching halt as he notices the driver on the cellphone in the driver's seat... completely motionless.

"Wait... what?"

John looks up and around the busy turnpike, and only then notices that everything around the White Castle has been frozen - vehicles, stoplights, and even pedestrians. Not even a sound.

"You know, for someone who has arguably had the most enthralling day of his life, I'm quite astounded that you seem so... aggravated."

Casting aside logic in the face of his anger, John simply grumbles without turning to see the voice behind him, "Then obviously, you didn't hear how that last conversation _ended_..."

However, upon turning around, John is surprised to see no one there, and is only further surprised when he sees a single unusual figure standing next to a nearby lamppost as soon as he turns forwards. He squints his eyes at her as if trying to recall her from a dream... was she from his dream? Her garb looks like she could be, but at the same time it looked too... regal, to be from that world. From Remnant.

"You're still trying to ascertain my identity," the blonde figure begins as John takes a step closer.

"You... you literally just appeared out of thin air," John begins in no small measure of wonder as he tries to understand what he just witnessed. Sure, superpowers in a dream is one thing, but having someone appear out of nothing in real life!?

 _Something else entirely._

Her outfit is mostly blue with silver trimming, accented with small armor plating on her arms, waist and chest. Her hair is neatly tied into a bun, two bangs hanging on the sides of her face which serve to frame her eyes which are as blue as her garb. But not exactly _blue_ , John thinks as he tries to think of the color...

"I believe the word you seek is _Cerulean_."

"...Aaaand, she can read my mind," John drawls in disbelief, his shoulders slumping as she hides a small giggle behind her armored glove.

"No no, hardly," she replies with a benign shake of her head, "I've simply come to know humans long enough to guess at their most general musings at any given moment."

"So you said _humans_ just then. You're..."

"Also human? Yes."

"But..."

"Different? Not as much as you may imagine."

"Really. Then..."

"Who am I?" the lady pauses before glancing at the young man with an almost playful smirk, "I'm afraid being so blunt as to tell you my identity would only serve to confuse you further..."

"Well that's not your problem to worry about!" John snaps, the surreal nature of the situation around him sinking in and only managing to frustrate him further, "You're apparently here because you know who I am; my _name_ , as you may or may not know already, is _John Luna_ , so let's just be civil about things for a change without resorting to weird time circles and stuff!"

"Hm. I wouldn't call it a time circle. A few may call it a reality marble, but I'd say this is more like a _bounded_ circle, set to temporarily freeze the passage of time," the lady muses aloud in thought, drawing out the pause on purpose before amiably chuckling at the young man's glare, "But of course, for the sake of chivalry, it simply wouldn't do for one to retain anonymity when the other party has willingly identified themselves... from one knight to another, John, I shall oblige your request. My name... is Arturia."

The young man simply stands there for a moment, dumbfounded by the strange terms and references to each of them.

"I told you you'd simply be burdened with more questions than answers should I reply."

"A-A knight? Wha... why are you here?" John finally asks, letting his shoulders slump at the weight of her reply.

"In reality, the one to whom you should be directing that question is _yourself_. Be that as it may, I am here because of _you_ , John. Your Semblance called out to me, and here I am."

 _Semblance_. That word... it's familiar...

"The unique manifestation of your Aura, unlocked after years of successful rigorous training," Arturia continues, further ringing bells in John's mind that he can't quite place, "No recognition yet?"

"It sounds... like I should by now," the young man begins slowly, rummaging through his mind for the pieces of images he's been able to store over the past few weeks, "I've been having these dreams. Of people, like you... but things were very bad for them from what I remember. It was a place called Remnant."

"So you _do_ remember," she notes with a knowing smile before taking a breath of what looks like relief, "Tell me, John. In your dreams of that world, did you ever ask yourself why it was called Remnant? ...did you ever ask yourself what that world was a remnant _of?_ "

John blinks in thought before his eyes slowly begin to widen in realization, his disbelief to what Arturia is implying offset only by the disbelief that his current situation isn't a dream as well.

"You mean... Remnant is _real?_ That Remnant is... is..."

"Earth?" Arturia replies simply before stepping forward to close the space between the two, "Or what it may become, at least."

"You say _may_. So my dreams. They might not happen?"

At that, the lady takes the young man and guides him by the shoulder to the hood of the frozen vehicle, "You may wish to sit for this. Technically, in a way the vast majority of mankind has yet to comprehend, they already _have_."

John literally feels the world spinning around him with an ill groan before he's graciously anchored by the lady's hand planted on his shoulder for him to regain his bearings. Having barely escaped fainting, he slowly refocuses on Arturia until he can finally attempt cohesive speech.

"How's... How's that even _possible?_ "

"Well," she begins once more after ensuring that John wouldn't drop the moment she let go of him, "that takes us once again to the topic of your Semblance."

"I remember... at least, I think I remember... being able to do many things with that, Semblance-thing, that you're talking about. But I'm pretty sure cheating death wasn't one of them."

"That is because _you_ did _not_ cheat death."

John's brows furrow at her pointed dialogue, his mouth slowly dropping open as Arturia explains further, "The Semblance you speak of was neither Polarity, Aurakinesis, nor Kinetic Replication. Your Semblance, John... is _Empathy_. The ability, not only to empathize and understand the way the aural energy of others functioned for you to mimic their abilities, but to transcend into understanding the very Root of existence."

"The Root of existence?" John echoes blankly, earning a sympathetic nod from his companion.

"Yes. Existing outside of time, it stores and archives information of all possibilities and events - past, present, _and_ future - of the world. That night, John, you used your Aura at its full capacity for the first time when you spoke to those you knew would perish but you refused to let perish without hope. Your Aura stretched deeper than it ever had when you accepted yourself, your fate, and the fate of the world; and whether you knew it or not, you made not only a promise, but a _contract_..."

John makes a motion to protest as the details seem to be becoming too specific to believe, to which Arturia hushes him with a raised hand before concluding.

"That night, you made a contract not just with those you swore to protect, but with the _world_... And John, the world _listened_."

The young man swallows a dry know in his throat before croaking, "So my dreams... they're not dreams?"

Arturia shakes her head, a solemn expression befitting a knight in her features before she looks up to meet John's gaze, "No. Not dreams... They are memories."

John merely stares at her for a long moment in bewilderment before dropping his head in his hands and groaning loudly.

"This is insaaaaane..."

"Hm. And to think you have yet to fully remanifest your previous memories," the lady mentions lightly as she gets to her feet and begins slowly pacing in front of the young man who merely peeks at her between his fingers.

"So you're here to help me remember? Make this whole process easier on me or something?"

"No no, the path that yet lays ahead of you is much more pressing and dangerous than that, I'm afraid," she notes as she stops to face him, "I'm here to give you the _choice_ at remembering."

At that, John takes another moment to process the information, letting out a brief sigh before dropping his arms and scooting back onto the hood of the frozen car to prop his elbows on his knees and motion for her to continue.

"Alright... I'm listening."

"Very well. As previously mentioned, you made a contract with the world. And upon your death... and yes, you did die that night... the world chose to summon you as a Guardian, a way to right the wrongs of mankind before it eventually tears itself apart."

The young man takes a deep breath to let Arturia's words simmer in his mind before exhaling sharply with his reply, "And you were saying I have a choice?"

"Indeed," she confirms with a suddenly neutral expression as if somewhat surprised he asked the question, "You have been summoned; reborn, in your case, to a time before Remnant. As a matter of fact, to a time shortly before the events that turn Earth _into_ Remnant... you now have the ability to keep Remnant from ever becoming a reality, and to stop the events that happened that night when mankind was finally extinguished from ever happening. But of course, by being reborn instead of being... say, projected as an astral form of your being at its prime, dependent on energy from the world and from the humans that inhabit it to stay materialized... you've been granted the Independent Action to choose whether you fulfill your contract or not."

"Like, just walk away from this and choose to live my life as I was before?"

"Correct. But know that doing so will only cause the timeline to go on unhindered and for Earth as man knows it today to end, which means that even though your life will not end like it did the first time, you will be essentially sending another to take your place. And it is unlikely he or she will be able to reset the conditions as you have," Arturia warns with a stern expression, "Moreover, you should be aware that your choice to fight would also awaken natural forces set in place by the world to keep the original timeline from being affected. You may think of them as Counter-Guardians."

"So the world is already stacking the odds against me before I even choose to save it? So it's either walk away from this, or play craps against the guy with the loaded dice..."

John slowly lets his head fall, a war of emotions in his mind between the desire to continue living as if nothing happened and the desire to help those in need.

"I couldn't do that," the blonde states open-endedly, the lady's mouth slowly dropping open in surprise before he looks up at her with a steeled gaze, "Even if you could make me forget about all of this, knowing that I had a choice now, I couldn't leave others to die for me. I will do what I must so that others will never have to."

Arturia's surprise quickly ebbs away into a warm grin before nodding, "The words of a true knight. Then you are ready."

John looks around in the moment of silence that follows, slowly bringing his gaze back to the armored woman in front of him before shrugging his shoulders.

"Okay?"

"Very well," she begins as she looks up to the sky and closes her eyes as if reciting an old quote, "It is said that a good man draws a circle around himself and cares for those within. His woman, his children. Other men draw a larger circle and bring within their brothers and sisters. And fewer still have a great destiny; they must draw around themselves a circle that includes many, many more. But _your_ circle, John... does not close. It encompasses everyone and everything..."

"Like an Arc," John whispers wide-eyed before slowly turning to meet the lady's gaze as she opens her eyes to meet his, not even noticing the wisps of shimmering wind beginning to surround them, "My name... is Jaune Arc."

 _ **shooooom...**_

And like a powerful pulse, John suddenly finds himself on all fours on the ground after blacking out for a moment, blinking his eyes a few times as he readjusts himself to his surroundings. But just as he thinks he ended up in some random parking lot and it was all just a dream, he suddenly finds a hand held in front of him to help him up. A hand in an armored glove.

"Aaaaagh, and here I was hoping I had been in an accident or something," John huffs as the familiar lady looks up and around to see that the small gust the event created actually unfreezes several objects around them for a split-second.

"Very interesting. The initial power surge was much stronger than I expected... you truly live up to your reputation, Arc."

"...I have a reputation?"

"Of course," Arturia mentions with a small smile as she finally gets him standing upright, "You are widely regarded within the Akashic Records as the Last Hero, borne with untold potential but cut short at the end of mankind."

"Ugh... way to lay it on thick like that," John states with a heavy breath as he scratches the back of his neck, "Just take it easy with the names, though. Still getting the hang of it."

But pausing as he contemplates the strange feeling of gradual cohesion between the foreign memories in his mind like accumulating droplets of water, John mentions as he glances at her, "Hey, I can't really remember everything, though."

"You will. With time," Arturia notes, nodding at his affirmation, "You will become aware of the power that resides within your being first. An undiscovered power which already resides in every human, but that they will finally discover... soon."

Taking her words to mind, John nods his head with a tight-lipped expression as he flexes his hands in front of him before suddenly raising a brow, "So that's first. And then?"

"You'll begin to recognize... _others_..."

"Others?" John echoes before his eyes go wide in realization as he glances at the White Castle, "No _way_..."

Turning to face her, Arturia nods at the shocked young man to confirm his deduction before elaborating, "Your contract had beneficiaries; in your case, all who fought alongside you that night. Your allies have been summoned as well, brought back in time in a way that your lives converge on a singular event... now that you've accepted your quest, your Semblance will allow them to become aware of their previous memories, too."

"But... what about her?"

Arturia momentarily furrows her brows at the pensive knight, following his line of sight until catching sight of the breakfast restaurant and gathering his meaning, "Ah. You refer to Lady Belladonna. She is the only one who seems to have begun manifesting her previous memories without your presence. She is... special, to say the least. You'll do best by taking care of her."

John's surge of what he could only describe as a mix of pride and warmth for the young woman meets a glass ceiling as he shakes his head in resignation. She was real... Blake was real, but... John didn't even want to think about it, the thought just felt so wrong...

"Well... that's gonna be tricky. And a little weird," he pauses as Arturia gives him a questioning glance before he motions towards the restaurant with a huff, "She already has a boyfriend!"

The small outburst lingers on dead air as the lady's questioning glance remains for a moment longer before her reply, "I... wasn't aware that young women were not allowed to have friendships with young men? I suppose I'm not completely aware of the customs in this era quite yet-"

" _No_ ," John replies heatedly, correcting himself with a deep breath and letting his arm which was still pointing at the store drop as he continues, "No, it's like... she's already seeing someone."

"..."

"Um, like dating?"

"..."

"You know... like courting... for _marriage?_ "

"O-Oh dear," Arturia finally quips as she glances at the location, clearly surprised at the information as the young man furrows his brows at her.

"Where _do_ you come from?"

At that, she merely gives a small chuckle in realization of their misunderstanding, "Ah, of course. You see, young Arc, I am from an era as far back from the present time as yours was as far forward in the future..."

"You've got a real problem with giving straight answers, you know that?" John retorts with a deadpan before sighing at the building, "Well... at least she might remember something next time we see each other."

"Yes, that she may," she notes with a more hopeful expression before glancing at the young man with a fading smile, "But be forewarned that there shall be great obstacles in your path to reconciliation. Your Semblance is mighty, but not without its drawbacks."

John turns to face her, his eyes lingering just a little longer at the building before hardening at her words and meeting her gaze as she continues.

"Every action through the Root generates an equal and opposite reaction... The world accepted your terms, but to maintain balance in the flow of life, it also used your Semblance to summon many of those who had a hand in the destruction of the world as you once knew it."

"...WHAT."

Arturia lets her gaze fall from the young man whose anger almost flares enough to make the air shimmer around him before she replies, "You must be wary of them, John. These forces may have already been at work long before your original memories began to manifest. _These_ are the Counter-Guardians of which I spoke."

John keeps his gaze set on her for another moment, his breathing agitated before he closes his eyes and calms himself with a long sigh.

So, he was currently being given a chance, not to save mankind, but to keep it from needing saving. He had fought, he had died, and he had been reborn into the past to do the illogical in an era of logic. These abilities were real... he could feel the awakened power ebbing underneath his skin like a restrained tempest just waiting for an outlet... but he knew that there would be those with equal if not greater power who would be resisting him in his quest to change the world. Thankfully, he would not be without allies... but how could he expect the people he once fought with in the past to be able to not only find each other, but _mend_ themselves together as fighting units as they once were in time for whatever was coming? How could he know when it was coming in the first place?

How could he even know _what_ was coming?

His mind wanders between two planes of consciousness, a single heartbeat resounding through his body to bring a flash of a memory to mind. Death. Darkness. Shadow. So many shadows... and a sudden revelation.

John opens his eyes to see Arturia with a dutiful smile nodding at him as if concurring with his internal musing, his face retaining its steadfast gaze with his reply, "Then there's no time to lose."

But walking forwards towards his car, John stops, his face softening as he turns to see that Arturia hasn't moved from her position and only watches him with a small smile.

"Aren't you... y'know, coming or something?"

At that, the lady's smile grows as she shakes her head, "I'm afraid not. My time left is fairly limited as my purpose has now been fulfilled. You see, I had to be sure..."

"Of what?" he asks quizzically, turning to face her completely from the distance between them as the first sounds of wind begin resurfacing and blowing between them while the remaining objects around hem stay frozen.

"My identity," Arturia adds, "Now that you understand your situation and I've confirmed my understanding of your renewed resolve, I've a bit of a confession to make. You may not know it, but I was unlocked the moment your Aura was first unlocked so long ago... or so long from now... I'm afraid references to time are terribly confusing at this point."

A raised brow over widened eyes from the knight.

"Arc, I _am_ your Semblance. Personified, at least," she continues with a short chuckle as a bird is seen flying through the sky over them, "I've learned about you just as you've learned about me... and I learned early on that you tend to grasp unknown concepts much better when explained by, well..."

The lady looks down at herself before glancing at the dumbfounded young man with a hint of a mischievous smile, "Attractive women."

"So you're...?"

"You? Yes, in a very close sense. _Both_ versions of you, old and new, waiting for the right moment to trigger your manifestation after realizing the world had heeded my contract and given us a second chance."

John gives the knight in front of him a once-over, the awkward moment settling in and causing each of them to blush a similar shade of pink before he finally clears his throat, "Then uh... where'd you get the idea of looking like _that?_ Did I know a girl who looked like you once?"

"No, not at all," she replies with an amiable grin like someone eager to drop a punchline, "You see, I decided to take on the form of this woman from an old anime archetype you used to watch as a young child that has a few startling similarities to reality... I thought you might be able to relate to her at least on a subconscious level."

John merely stares at her for another moment before his eyes widen in realization and he facepalms himself. Hard.

"My internal self is _so_ jacked up."

At that, Arturia laughs, the first fully blown laugh John has heard from her as she doubles over chortling in satisfaction with her well-played stunt. Finally straightening out, she wipes a tear from her eye before stating, "You only have yourself to blame. I'm the manifestation of _your_ lifeforce, after all..."

She raises her hands placatingly, John's glare turning into one of mild surprise as he sees her slowly begin to disintegrate from the feet up.

"Ummm, fine. Just one last question. If you're my Semblance just helping me... empathize with my situation, I guess... and our ability included mimicking others' powers... who'd you learn to make this big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey, wimey stuff from?"

" _Bounded circle_ , Arc," Arturia now shoots back with a deadpan of her own, "At least humor me in going along with my portrayal of my character before I disappear, yes?"

"Yeah, I noticed. You're definitely sticking to your role, down to the emotional exit and everything."

"Which you've now ruined."

"Well you're _me_... when have I _not_ ruined an emotional moment?"

"...Verily stated," Arturia notes with a hand to her chin before glancing at him with a small smirk as vehicles begin slowly moving and horns are heard as if through water while the area around them begins to shimmer, "Though I must admit that I'm not quite sure from whom I picked up this particular ability yet. Like your memories, even a few of my own are still readjusting while your remanifestation is completed."

"So, will I ever see you again?" John now asks, his bemusement now morphed into mild grief at her departure.

Arturia smiles warmly at him before replying, "If you can understand your state when you first summoned me to the physical world, then you'll know how to do it again. But remember, the path ahead is yours to walk alone..."

John groans pitifully at the reminder, Arturia shaking her head as the rest of her arms and torso finally disintegrate, "Don't worry; like your shadow beside you, I'll always be around... Jaune..."

The lady's head finally disappears in shimmering wisps just as the area around the young man comes back to full speed, his successive sigh more of an impressed reaction than one of despair.

"Heh... she got her emotional exit after all."

 _ **BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!**_

"Hey! You again!? Watch where you're going, sheesh!"

John watches with a nonplussed expression as the same driver he had nearly swerved into that morning turns out to be the one who nearly hit him in the White Castle parking lot before shaking his head at the heavy-set man in the driver's seat who had ordered the sausage sandwich in the store.

"I could _literally_ flip his car over with my mind. Nobody would know... nobody would know..."

* * *

The rest of the day was spent mostly like any other stay-home Saturday for John... minus the few hours he spent cross-legged on his bed staring at his hands while concentrating on making the glow come back like it had in his dreams. Or memories. It was still tough to distinguish. After all, assimilating 21 years of previous memories surely was no easy feat, so he could appreciate that Arturia said that they were coming gradually... he could only imagine how difficult it would be if they all came to him at once. It'd probably drive him insane.

Nevertheless, it was the way Ben found him when returning from work later that afternoon. Though the young man of Oriental descent knew John well enough to expect anything from him... he had to admit that the sudden teary-eyed hug he received upon entering the apartment from the blonde was startling to say the least. But after returning the embrace and amiably sharing a few comforting words, Ben retired to his own room to call Norah for their daily semi-mandatory hour-long phone call.

' _Hey Ben..._ '

"Yeah?" the young roommate replied into the phone, tossing aside his work clothes and settling into his bed with his usual jade green t-shirt and white trousers.

' _Is Johnny alright now? He seemed pretty wrecked this morning... you guys didn't get into a fight did you?_ '

"No, of course not," Ben replied with his ever-amiable tone to his best friend before quirking a brow at a strange noise through the line, "Um, Norah? What are you doing?"

' _Uhhh, nothing, hehe~_ '

"Norahhh..."

' _Okay okay_ ,' the bubbly girl hedged through the phone, ' _I_ _may kinda sorta be loading this new potato gun I built right now, and it's awesome!_ '

Ben barely holds back a snicker, the incredulous smile growing on his face as he asks, "A _what?_ "

' _You know, a potato launcher! For the next time I meet a meanie or get rude customers!_ '

"Another story today, I take it?"

' _Not really, just some jerk guy that keeps getting my name wrong when he asks me out on his receipts with hundred-dollar tips... I still got a copy here, ummm... here it is. Carson, Workester? Never noticed his last name before, it's weird._ '

"No doubt," Ben drones, a little taken aback at the sudden pang of emotion in his chest at the notion of his best friend dating. Cursing John and his strange ideas, he continues flatly, "That last name. Isn't it spelled with a _c_ after the first three letters?"

' _Yeah_.'

"Then it's pronounced _Worcester_ , with a _ch_ sound at the 'c'."

' _Ohhh_ ,' she drawls across the line, her path to understanding never failing to leave a smile on his face, ' _You're smart, Benny! Hey, I had another idea..._ '

"Yes?"

' _Ever consider getting a highlight before?_ '

"A-A what?" Ben stuttered, genuinely surprised by the inquiry even from his whimsically random friend.

' _Yeah, something that matches your eyes! Y'know, something pink!_ '

The young man's brow furrowed as he replied, "Aside from the unorthodox color choice, even though I do like the color, my eyes aren't pink, Norah... they're dark brown."

A slight pause in the line.

' _Oh yeah, huh. That's weird._ '

"Me having brown eyes like every other person in my family?"

' _Yeah... I mean no,_ ' she replies quickly, catching herself in her thought process, ' _Gah, I guess John's funk is starting to get me, too._ '

"It's alright," he concedes with a warm chuckle, "Today I didn't even realize I began stashing knives in my chef coat sleeves at the restaurant."

' _Haha! Y'know, I can actually see you making that work!_ "

"Really?" the calm young man asked with a small smirk before leaning back in his pillow with the thought, "Huh... for some reason, it doesn't feel too weird to me either..."

' _Did you make any pancakes today?_ '

"No Norah, I did not. I work at the Black Lotus, remember? Different cuisine. Pancakes are just a Sunday thing that we do," Ben replied with the same smirk at his friend's spontaneous subject changes.

' _Oh that's right,_ ' she conceded as happily as ever, ' _Well like I was saying,_ _I think that green coat with the pink cuffs they give you to cook is really cool!_ '

He glanced over at the ornate green coat with black accents on the chair at his desk with a warm smile, silently agreeing with his friend about the golden thread embroidered item with pink cuffs he had added. Ben had long given up trying to convince others that his favorite color was actually _magenta_ instead of pink, but the fact that the cuffs to his chef's coat were actually pink didn't help his argument.

Magenta was _manly_. They just didn't understand.

But Ben slowly realized tat he was just dragging out his thoughts to distract him from John's words earlier that day... and once again, they brought him back to the same question. Except this time, he could no longer find any reason to counter it.

"Hey Norah," he finally added, taking a deep breath as he finally decided to try it, "Next week, you wanna come over for dinner at the restaurant with me?"

' _Like a you-and-me Noren night!? Oooooh YES!_ ' she exclaimed happily, ' _I love it when we eat those little potsticker thingies together!_ '

"Well... yes," Ben added unsurely, scratching the back of his head as a very rare blush spread across his cheeks, "But I mean this time we go... uh, together-together?"

' _..._ '

Ben's ears rang with the subsequent squeal of joy which eventually came through the line, the rest of their hour to be spent organizing the date, time and outfit theme of their pending first date with a warm grin plastered on his face.

* * *

 _ **BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!**_

"Gah! Could you get any louder!?" John finally snaps as his eyes flash open the next morning with righteous fury at his iPhone and he shuts it off with a hard poke at the screen, "Stupid scroll..."

John suddenly pauses as he gets out of bed, turning his head slowly to face his cellular device before shaking it in frustration, " _Mehhhhhh_..."

Stepping out of the room, the young blonde grins at his roommate wearing his morning pink robe in the hall, making the groggy young man at the other end of it feel slightly uncomfortable until he suddenly squints his eyes even more at John... making _him_ uncomfortable as well.

"Uh, everything okay, Ben?"

"Your eyes," he replies slowly, tilting his head a bit to the side, "They look different."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"They've always been blue, but now they seem... brighter. I'm not sure. Almost like a..."

" _Cerulean?_ " John responds with a quirked brow, a muted excitement slowly rising within.

"Yeah," Ben replies lazily before giving a yawn. But pausing mid-yawn, he looks back at the blonde with a slightly surprised expression before adding, " _Wait_."

The young man's excitement grows, hoping that his roommate is finally coming to some sort of realization as to his identity as the stoic he once called brother, "What?"

"You're telling me you can distinguish a specific color like _cerulean_ , but you can't remember that my color of preference is _magenta?_ "

John deadpans at his companion, sighing as he crosses his arms and looks to the side, "Not a word I came up with on my own, okay?"

" _Mehhhhh_ ," Ben grunts as he walks across the blonde in the hallway into the bathroom with a dismissive wave at him, "Whatever, Jaune."

John freezes as Ben shuts the door behind him, about to knock on the door and clarify the name Ben had just used before the calm man's voice blares through the door, "The memorial is today, John! We gotta be ready to go soon."

He huffs in defeat before giving his disheartened reply, "Sure thing, man..."

An argument about John's failed recollection to pick up groceries, an expensive trip to Starbucks at John's expense, and a long drive to Providence, Rhode Island later, and the two friends arrive at the memorial location with the main crown of arrivals.

"Sheesh, I didn't know this many people would be making it today," John observes as he looks around at the mass of people and media that had gathered to the exhibit-like venue to commemorate Monty's death.

Ben nods before stating with a point, "It's really thanks to that guy over there that so much money was raised for the proceedings so soon. Beard and glasses with the tuxedo."

The young blonde looks over as he spots the man directing media traffic and answering questions on camera who's wearing a fairly spiffy tux with a strange belt buckle with what looks like a chicken and a pair of dentures engraved in the brass and the pair walks toward him. Stepping away from the camera flashes, the man approaches them with a somber smile before giving Ben a hug.

"Glad you could make it. Make yourselves at home inside and feel free to go anywhere you want. Security is pretty tight but they know who you are," and turning to John, he cocks his head to the side a bit before giving him a wry smirk at the blonde's expression and following exclamation.

"You're that guy from that machinima series!"

"Yes I am. And you remind me a lot of a guy I know. In any case, please enjoy the memorial; we've done all we could to commemorate Monty's accomplishments with us through the years."

With a grateful nod at the man who is promptly swarmed again by media, Ben leads John into the elegant venue by the Water Place Park. The two step inside and immediately marvel at the display of art and graphics presented in the buildings, ascertaining the music which they easily recognize was affiliated with Monty's work. John watches as Norah arrives an hour or so later in time for the processions and the words and sometimes-sad/sometimes-funny eulogies from Monty's close friends before the events continue, the unconquerably bubbly girl instantly magnetizing herself next to Ben's arm and taking his in hers before she leads him to a random art piece with a goofy grin. The blonde merely waves at the pair which Ben returns as Norah places her head on his shoulder and they turn the corner.

"Heh, _she's_ a little more affectionate than usual," John observes with a teasing grin before taking a moment to admire a giant holographic rendering of a Warthog vehicle blasting through a CGI wall with guns blazing.

...A moment ruined by a sudden yelp which catches John's attention from behind, followed by the impressive explosion of a soda can right at his feet that ricochets upwards. Into his crotch.

"HOLY MOTHER... _FATHER_ -SISTER-BROTHER-COUSIN! Aieeeee..."

"Ohmygosh I'm so sorry!" the young lady who had yelped apologizes profusely as she awkwardly scampers towards the downed figure in her heels.

Turning the groaning young man over as he continues to grip his package in pain, she frowns in indecision as to what do do next and merely gets on her knees and sits back on her heels next to the young man's head. Finally managing to open his eyes, John manages a brief glimpse at a young woman hovering over his head with a medium-length brown ponytail, its ends highlighted deep red if the glare from the nearby artwork wasn't playing tricks on his eyes. Her dress was also thick black lace over crimson fabric, and as he noticed her grunting in frustration while she tried to adjust parts of her dress that seemed out of place on her otherwise well-proportioned figure, he noted that by her fidgeting and the terrible way she'd kneeled next to him that she clearly wasn't used to wearing a dress.

"You... your eyes are grey?"

Suppressing a small eep of surprise, the young girl snaps her head to face him, stuttering a bit as she suddenly becomes acutely aware of her lightly mascara'd eyes and begins to chuckle nervously.

"U-Um... hehe, yeah. My mom was from like, Northern Europe or something, and some people actually get that up there. Uh, anyway, how are you feeling?"

Managing a small glare with the obvious response at the girl who clearly has as little experience talking to new people as he does, John merely lays back with a grunt until a much more balanced-sounding clattering of heels brings his attention to their blonde bombshell of an owner.

"Jeez, sis, what'd you do to this guy?" she muses to herself with slight amusement, kneeling down a bit in her incredibly striking strapless black colorblock dress with a yellow section in the middle before narrowing her deep blue eyes which almost look violet in the reflection of the environment with threatening undertones in her voice, "What did he do to _you?_ "

Despite the elegant form-fitting dress, the young woman about John's age begins cracking her fingers when the younger girl practically falls forwards trying to keep her at bay, "No no! It was my fault! I dropped a can of soda and it exploded!"

"Pfft, you dropped soda and it _exploded?_ " she asks with a clearly incredulous tone at the exasperated girl before taking a moment to survey the stains on John's shirt and globs of sugary beverage on the floor and wall around them, "Oh my god it actually exploded..."

"Who _are_ you people?" John wheezes as the exertion causes a fresh wave of pain to shoot up his nads.

"Oh, um, right... I'm Ramona," the younger girl mentions nervously, smiling at the young man still on the ground before the flat stares from both blondes make her snap back into action, "Eheh... right, let's get you up. Little help here, Blaine?"

"Yeah, yeah," the older woman grunts before taking John under the armpits and hefting him up with surprising strength while Ramona brushes off any dust smudges on his suit, "Sheesh. Light as a feather. Someone give this guy a sandwich."

John is about to protest, but stops as he takes a good look at the seemingly unrelated sisters for the first time. The distant sounds of rain and thunder clap in his mind as an overlay of two young women wrought with despair stand in front of him, his breath quickening as he glances back and forth between the increasingly confused girls until he steps back and into a third girl.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

The annoyed voice comes out in a half shriek, half frustrated reprimand, and it causes John to whip around to see the disgruntled young woman a few inches shorter than him rubbing her impacted shoulder. Despite the injury, she still stands straight in her immaculate white slacks and blazer over an icy blue blouse that matches her eyes. Even John in his current state stumbles for a moment in admiring the girl who wears her dirty blonde hair in a side ponytail before holding his hands out placatingly.

"I... am _so_ sorry."

"Just don't do it again," she huffs with restrained exasperation, seemingly about to continue as some glint of recognition passes her eyes when the loud voice of the blonde erupts over John's shoulder.

"Well what a surprise! Who knew Monty had actually met Iris Sneed-Perello in his time!" Blaine remarks as she strides forward next to a now bewildered John who recognizes the important persona as Ramona meekly shuffles up behind her sister.

"Wait," John notes, "Perello? As in, CEO of EURENCO, one of the world's fastest growing leaders in the ammunition propellant business?"

The young woman gives a small smile at the recognition, preening up a bit as she replies, "Correct. Marcos Perello is my father..."

"...Though I prefer my mother's name, Sneed," she adds with a complicated expression at the three youths across from her.

"Daddy issues much?" Blaine whispers to her sister before John corrects her.

"Step-father."

The three young women glance at the young man with raised brows until he shrugs, "I had to do a paper on the company in college. I was into the possible military applications of chemical and other forms of theoretical energy propellant when I was trying to get into the military... though I never did get enlisted..."

 _I'd be able to get in now_ , he almost wants to add but keeps himself in check as the taller blonde in the group shrugs as well.

"And who are _you_ three supposed to be?" Iris asks, a particularly piqued point in her voice towards the youths as she crosses her arms in front of herself and stands with her weight shifted onto one leg.

"Jau- er, John Luna," the young man begins with a short chuckle, "Assistant counselor at Beacon High in Manhattan. I knew Monty through his brother."

"Ramona Shao," the girl between the blondes speaks up with a small wave, "Mechanical engineering and design student at Columbia U in New York City. Monty helped me get in on scholarship."

"Blaine Shao-Lynn," the most outgoing of the three mentions with a prideful - and noticeable - swell in her chest, causing the young man to look away to keep his thoughts clean, "'Mona's sister on the dad's side. Model. MMA trainer. Whatever pays the bills. Met Monty at a pretty rad afterparty at my favorite club in NYC."

"How'd you know Monty?" the young girl asks the fourth member of the group, evidently taking a step forward in initiating the dialogue.

The sure businesswoman suddenly doesn't look so sure, her solid gaze breaking and going to the large rendering by the group with a small pout, "Well, I never met him personally per se... but I was always fascinated with his work. I actually organized a board meeting a few floors above this one today so that I could visit as soon as I had the opportunity."

"Cool. Then we can all hang together!" Blaine then exclaims while happily throwing her arms out to the sides, her sister knowing her well enough to duck under the sudden motion. John, however, isn't so lucky.

 _ **THWAK!**_

"John!" Ramona squeaks in worry as the back of her sister's palm lands squarely on his face, "Are you okay!?"

"You really gotta stop asking that," he hedges as he reels back, his balance lost as he mumbles and falls, "Her fizts... feel almozt ezzzactly like- oof!"

John's cut off as something soft catches his fall, but even with the world spinning a bit around him, he can't really assume it's the floor judging by the fact that he's still somewhat upright. Turning himself around, he realizes that his face becomes more buried in an amazingly soft nook that seriously beats any pillow those Tempurpedic people could ever take a crack at... _wait_.

"- _Gauntlets!?_ " he half mumbles into the soft warm space before pulling his head out and turning back to see Iris with her hand to her mouth in indignant shock, Ramona with her head cocked to the side cringing in awkwardness, and Blaine right next to her clearly trying and failing to keep from bursting out in raucous laughter. Slowly turning back to look up at his unsung savior, cerulean eyes meet hazel as the expression of the surprised, angry, confused and somewhat amused Blake refocuses in his blurry vision.

"Uh. I waz juz droppin in, heh... thanks fer the save?"

The silent girl in the sapphire mid-calf dress with a long slit along one leg lightly lifts the young man who had just had his face buried in the satin top half that held a see-through section across her upper torso before shaking her head at him with an incredulous smirk and small blush, "Wrong place, right time, I suppose."

"You still got that bow," John drawls a little more coherently as he stands straighter with a slight stumble, supporting himself on her forearms that she holds forwards to keep him balanced, "I remember your mom gave that to you when you were real little..."

Blake's jaw loosens a bit as she stares at him in curiosity before turning to the three girls with an apologetic smile at having disrupted their conversation, "I... I'm sorry about the interruption; he's an old friend of mine who tends to attract trouble."

"Pfft, I believe it," Blaine mutters under her breath.

Blake also narrows her eyes as the blonde for only the briefest of seconds before disregarding the strange sensation, "You three wouldn't mind if I borrowed him for a bit?"

Ramona looks to her sister and back at the pair before shrugging, Iris simply gives them a dismissive wave, and Blaine adds with a teasing grin, "Well, seeing that you didn't just beat him into next Thursday, the two of you _clearly_ got a thing goin on. Go for it."

Brushing off the remark like a pro, Blake simply nods politely at the three very different girls before gently leading the slightly dizzy John away by the elbow.

"S-Sorry I fell on your boobs."

"Just," she replies sharply, a blush quickly flashing across her features as she shuts her eyes and quickly shakes her head to get her thoughts together before giving her slightly softer reply, "Don't mention it."

"Cool, cuz-"

" _Ever_."

John chuckles nervously as the young woman beside him lets go of his arm to adjust her dress and bow. The way she looked as the pair slowly passed by a few art pieces the late producer had created, the young man taking the wiser path and letting silence reign for a moment before the awkward feeling of their reintroduction had dissipated, John could only state was beautiful. There truly was nothing that could be added or taken away from her at that moment that could make her look any more lovely. Of course, she didn't know they had practically become an item in their past life, so John also wisely elected to keep those thoughts to himself.

But still...

"Even in a dress, you always did look like you were ready to spring into action, too. Always did that, even when I was sure we were completely safe."

" _That_ ," Blake notes without turning, causing the young man to quizzically stare at the giant poster of a Halo/Metroid crossover that Monty had created in his lifetime to search for whatever she might be referring to.

"Eh?"

"No, not _that_ ," she hedges as she lightly smacks him on the arm, causing him to turn and face the deadpanning girl, " _You_. You keep saying things about me that I just don't talk about with anyone else. Who _are_ you?"

The young man bites his lip to bide for time, a myriad of ideas running through his mind as he tries to gather what he knows about her. Arturia knew she was important and that she was already manifesting. She had already shown some semblance of recognition already. If only there were a way to be sure...

"You... you don't remember?"

The girl keeps her gaze on him for a moment before slowly shaking her head, the blonde feeling his heart sinking into his stomach before she unexpectedly adds, "But I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since we met in Jersey."

John turns his gaze up at her in genuine surprise, causing the young woman to blush again and glance to the side in embarrassment.

"I mean... I'm positive I know you from somewhere, but I haven't been able to figure it out. I'm usually very good with faces."

"Maybe you have to consider _every_ possibility," John finally replies with a small smile, the girl looking back at him with a neutral expression.

"Maybe," she echoes before looking out at the Water Place outside the balcony as dusk falls on the horizon and steps forward to the window. She turns back to beckon the young man, "Follow me. There's something I wanted to show you."

Once outside and exposed to the semi-crisp air of the northeastern state, the pair walk along the balcony until reaching a small walkway that overlooks a large stretch of river in front of them several stories down, the archaic architecture of the rust-colored buildings in the area making even the water reflect shades of murky crimson in the dimming light.

"It's beautiful here," John admits aloud as the pair lean over the railing and look over the small town that is slowly beginning to light up for the evening, "Kinda reminds me of Venice or something, I dunno... a place that isn't _here_ , I guess."

"True... but that's not what I wanted to show you. Look down there."

John follows Blake's pointed finger towards the river itself until he sees a small fleet of black boats in men dressed completely in black, nearly indistinguishable from the dark waters around them, lighting a swarm of firelights all along the river in floating baskets underneath growing crowds to watch the spectacle.

"The Waterfire event," she explains calmly, "The combination of different elements - fire, wood, water, and air - working in unison, created to commemorate the passing of an old year and the herald of a new one. The hope of a better one."

He nods as the scent of aromatic wood reaches his nostrils, immediately becoming enthralled with the unique scene as evening falls and he watches the dancing flames over the water, "Yeah, it kinda makes sense, in a weird way. I never knew why, but ever since I was real little, fire always scared the crap out of me."

"Really."

"Figuratively speaking," John comments in an aside to the smug ravenette who currently sports a raised brow before looking back over the water, "I had this phobia that fire destroyed _everything_ without mercy, never leaving anything behind... until one day I really thought about it. Fire doesn't destroy _anything_ , I thought to myself; it just changes one thing to another. So eventually, I started looking at fire like a second chance, a way to start over and... I dunno... make things right. This makes me think of that."

"Most people might see a world in unending flame," Blake replies dryly.

Wincing away the brief flutter of recognition, John continues, "Well _I_ see a promise. Like you said, a hope for a better year... and a promise for a better future."

"Hmph. Promises are a fickle thing," Blake retorts flatly, the two of them still watching as yet more lights are lit and dance along the walls of the buildings and riverbank, "They're only vain words meant to instill false hope... everywhere you look, people promise justice, people promise equality, but nowhere in the world do you see it the least than where people promise it the most. Promise only instills words... True hope instills _action_."

"Yeah, we do seem to have a lot of those promises around today..."

"Then there you go," Blake concludes sullenly, glancing at the entranced blonde still watching the spectacle beside her, satisfied with the dominance of her point... until he continues.

" _Most_ promises, at least," he begins with a shrug, "But lately, I learned that there are some promises so strong that they instill both word _and_ action, spreading across time and space if need be until it's been fulfilled. And I think it has something to do with understanding why you have to do it, even if it doesn't make sense; understanding who you have to keep it for, even when there isn't hope. It could take a moment, it could take a lifetime... but if you're willing to wait... it'll come true."

A brief pause before Blake gives a soft reply.

"Sounds like a promise that's impossible to keep to me. I wouldn't even know what to tell someone who might have to wait so long to see it fulfilled..."

"Easy," the young man quips without missing a beat, a calm smile at the landscape in front of him, "Don't wait up."

 _I love you, too... Blake. Don't wait up..._

Slowly... deliberately... John's smile fades as his view of the wide river is momentarily replaced by a flash of a world lit in rain and drenched in flame, taking a step back and turning to see the young woman equally taken aback by his words with her gaze riveted on his, her eyes already beginning to water with a reluctant incredulity.

"That's... it's, im... possible..."

Catching wind of her meaning, John can only manage a sloppy shrug with a sting in his own eyes before eking out, "An Arc always keeps his word, heh..."

At that moment, John is thrown back by what feels like a small explosion going off in front of him, the lines between the real world and his memories blurring as he writhes on top of the balcony until the sudden appearance of a third voice begins to anchor him to what's truly real.

"What's wrong with this guy? He spazzing out or something?"

John sees a dark figure approach Blake on the balcony with his back to the young man, unable to do anything as he clutches his throbbing head for dear life.

"You're here sooner than planned," Blake's voice comes through strained and surprised, "What happened?"

"Looks like we got our intel sooner than expected. The EURENCO board meeting here will be presenting the experimental propellant we'd heard of... but the package is much more difficult to reach than we anticipated," John sees the man in the black tuxedo turn slightly, his auburn hair glinting in the firelight along with his white-frame shades with pearlescent red lenses as he gives her a conclusive nod, "Looks like we're going to be doing this the hard way."

Slightly caught off guard by the news, she merely raises a brow before droning, "Don't be so dramatic..."

"Well we're leaving now."

But glancing at John and back at the man with an almost incredulous expression at the obvious situation, she counters with an almost pleading tone in her voice, "But Adan..."

"But _what?_ " he hisses, glancing at the pained youth on the ground and back at Blake, "Wait around for _this_ kid to get help? There are people all over the place, someone's bound to come out on the balcony soon enough. It's not our fault he chose to have a panic attack now. Blake, a few floors above us is the last piece of the puzzle, the key to getting the justice we've fought for for so long! We need you in on this. _All_ of you. Are you with me or _not?_ "

Blake's mouth hangs open as if to say something but with no words coming out as she glances back and forth between the two men in front of her, one standing and one on the floor. Shutting her eyes, she trembles before giving her quiet reply.

"As long as no one gets hurt. Let's make it quick..."

With that, the two infiltrators-to-be leave the balcony, John watching Blake spare him a final glance before leaving behind a single tear that falls to the floor in front of him. The after-effects of whatever had just happened still tearing through his mind as he realized that several of his previous life's memories were flooding in all at once, John could only groan in pain as he haggardly reached for the single wet spot on the balcony before blacking out.

 _Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR..._

 _JNPR? Just what exactly is going on here...?_

The third unfamiliar voice causes the young man's eyes to flutter open, his first sensation being the fact that he's still laid out on the balcony and that his head is being cradled on something incredibly warm and soft. Silk? John turns up and immediately shoots his eyes open at the familiar shade of crimson that's splayed across his vision.

"J-Juniper?"

"Told you he'd remember you~"

"Norah."

"My bad."

John glances at Ben and Norah respectively before glancing back up at the young woman in question, his eyes suddenly going much wider as he realized that his head is perfectly perched on her legs over the balcony floor.

"Aaand I think I can sit up now!" John shouts as he jerks up to a seated position, running a hand through his hair as the young athlete in a striking crimson silk dress repositions herself with a small blush.

"I-I apologize. We found you out here a few minutes ago and I figured... I had hoped you and I would become reacquainted under better circumstances..."

"Yeah, me too," John admits with a slight groan as he reaches up to rub his temples with eyes screwed shut, "Ohh... this is gonna make for a special kind of hangover..."

"John," Ben begins after the previous three youths trade unsure glances, "What exactly happened?"

"Well-"

 _ **RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE**_...

And just like that, the young man's words are cut off by the sudden jolting of the entire building which causes the four friends outside on the balcony to lose their balance. Juniper is the first to look up and point at the growing fires erupting from the windows below them.

"Look, something up there!"

"We gotta warn people," Ben adds decisively before turning to his best friend, "Norah. Help John up and let's get people out of here."

"No problem, Benny!" the bubbly young woman states before practically hefting up John into bridal position in a single motion.

"Norah!"

"Tee-hee~ My bad!"

Putting the dizzied blonde down at the behest of her flustered best friend, Norah slings John's arm around her shoulder ant takes him into the building with Ben and Juniper... only to find that things aren't looking very good inside. Embers are already making their way down vents and exposed ducts, lighting objects on fire as sparks, or what at least look like sparks, are causing all manner of disarray with the electrical equipment. However, Norah suddenly stops in place with a look in her eyes towards the IN CASE OF EMERGENCY tools which Ben would've immediately rebuked had he seen it through the thickening smoke.

"Hey, Pyr. Mind holdin' this for me? I think I just found something realllly important!"

"U-Um, you mean _John?_ " Juniper asks with some uncertainty before having the young man thrust onto her awkwardly, his head landing right between her more ample supple bits to which he incoherently mumbles something along the lines of _Why duz this keep herpenin to me..._

"John! I-I'm sorry!" she states with a crimson blush as she readjusts the young man to have him supported by her side and begins making her way towards Ben who stands perplexed by an emergency blast door just inside the outer atrium.

"What's wrong?" she states with growing concern as she sees him staring at the handles of the doors which are clearly fuming, "You think there was a flash fire on the other side?"

"No... quite the opposite," the stoic young man replies enigmatically as he unexpectedly reached forward to wipe condensation off the iron handles, "This door has not been burned... it was _frozen_. The locks wont budge."

As the two teens look around for any other ways through the building, each are completely taken aback when the overly-ecstatic form of Norah appears between them. With an absurdly large sledgehammer.

" _GANGWAY!~_ I got a hammer and I ain't afraid to use it!"

And without another word, she begins smashing through the frosted doors with slightly disturbing laughter until breaking through, the three teens making their way into the main auditorium where masses of people are still trying to make their way out.

"John? John! Hey, _you_ guys, over here!"

Ben and Juniper peer through the smoke to see a young lady hopping in place across the room by the doorway where people are being ushered out, her awkward heels long chucked away.

"Hey guys, it's Ramona Flowers or something," John mumbles from Juniper's shoulder, "Let's go see what she has to say..."

"Thank goodness everyone's practically evacuated," Ben states as the group reaches her at the back of the mass that are about to exit the main entrance.

"Yeah, that should be everyone. A few people are upstairs trying to see if anyone is still up there, but that should be about it."

But then, a sudden bulge in the mass of bodies pushing forward separates at the repeated shouts of a particularly disparate young woman.

"Out of my way! Out of my way, I said! Oof!"

And in the middle of their group suddenly bursts a fairly disheveled Iris Sneed who falls on her rear, her once immaculate garb marred with soot and traces of blood grabbing everyone's attention as Ramona states in surprise, "Iris? What are you doing, we cant stay here any longer!"

"No!" the business woman retorts as she stubbornly gets to her feet and begins looking for the nearest staircase, "None of the board members made it out! I must see to it that they escape safely-"

 _ **BOOOM!**_

Without warning, the staircase she was about to step into roars with a fireball of flame, knocking Iris on her back as Ramona runs screaming towards the staircase as well.

" _NO! Blaine!_ "

But as she gets to heavily smoking passageway, a coughing young blonde steps out, waving away the smoke around her, "Jeez, sis... not so loud..."

Ben and Norah run to help up the young woman while Ramona races much faster than anyone present could've figured possible to tackle her sister in a hug before Iris asks once standing, "And everyone else? Could they make it out?"

Blaine takes a long somber look at the businesswoman before slowly shaking her head, "Sorry... things were pretty much toast once we got up there. No one made it - not the bigwigs, not the guys that went with me... I don't even know how _I_ was able to make it, not after that last fireball at least..."

Now the last seven people on the first floor, a sudden metallic groaning sound catches their attention from above as the fire begins rolling across the ceiling. Spurred into action by the bulge he sees growing in the ceiling, John solidifies his stance and throws Juniper across to Blaine and Ramona before sprinting forward, " _Guys look out!_ "

 _ **eeeee-CRASH!**_

Sliding to dodge falling debris, John skids past Iris, Ben and Norah to come up under a large support beam over the entrance that brings a large part of the ceiling with it to stop it from flattening the whole group.

Ben's eyes widen at his friend who holds up the weighty mass of burning debris over him with a loud grunt of effort, "John... how are you..."

" _Just get back from the entryway! All of you!_ This whole area is going down!"

Quickly moving back, the six youths watch the blue-eyed blonde push up the entire mass of building for an impossible few inches with a loud yell before rolling forwards and out of the way as the section of ceiling finally does down beside him. Ben and Juniper pull him back the rest of the way with the group as they try to keep him conscious.

"That was our only exit," Iris begins with heavy breaths amid the smoke, barely containing the growing helplessness in it.

"What in the world _was_ that, John!?" Ben yells as he pats the fading young man's cheek to keep him awake.

"Maybe it's the smoke in my eyes," Blaine adds from a distance, "but from here, it almost looked like Mister Atlas there was glo-"

Blaine's statement is cut short by the sounds of windows breaking in the distance, followed by a shadow that enters the room and reveals itself to be a certain hazel-eyed young woman in a catsuit and bow.

"Come with me if you want to live."

John slowly turns to face her in the intense moment that follows, raising a brow before he finally replies, "Did you _really_ just say that?"

Blake merely catches herself before shutting her eyes with a sharp sigh, "I can't believe I just said that."

The young man gets up slowly as Ben and Juniper help him up, each of them glancing in question at the eighth member of the group and her interesting garb consisting of leather leggings in short heels, a sleeveless leather top, and frayed fingerless gloves.

"Just tell us you have a way out of here..."

"Out the back, through a busted window, and around the side of the building by the waterway. Anyone have accessible transportation? I take it no one here had the chance to recover their car keys..."

"I do," Iris states sullenly, much to the group's relief, "the board members came in two vehicles coded to our fingerprints. I can get us into each of them."

"And I can take us to my place," Blaine adds, "It's by Central Park in NYC; it's a long way, but it'll be enough to keep us all holed up for the night."

"The let's go before any more of this place goes down," Ramona states, waving to the rest to follow her as she and Blake begin heading through the smoke-filled room. John, regaining his bearings, trots forward to pass Ben who is trying - and ultimately failing - to get Norah to ditch the sledgehammer as he catches up to Blake.

"What happened to you?" he asks in a hushed whisper, eyeing the evident wardrobe change as the group closes in to the exit that the young woman had created.

"None of this was supposed to happen," she explains quickly as they reach the opening, the remaining youths in tow, "I'll explain more when it's safe."

John merely narrows his eyes at her, cerulean meeting a stronger amber that he realized wasn't there before as he replies, "I have this gut feeling telling me that you know as well as I do that _safe_ is a word we won't be able to use anymore for a loooong time..."

And without another word, the eight acquaintances make their way out into the flaming night.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Chapter two of the two-shot. Not much more to say other than how much fun it was to incorporate elements of a certain fandom which may or may not be a precursor to a future, and possibly final, new story I add to this site. Hehe._

 _I'm gonna spread myself too thin with all these new stories at every turn. Or hiatus._

 _Hope you enjoyed! Remember, **Fave, Follow, and Review** to show your support! I'll be back to continue it in the future - until then, take care..._

 ** _And Happy Reading!_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Landing_**

* * *

"Evening, Hector. Put me down for two spaces tonight, that cool? I'm bringing company," Blaine asks from the passenger side front seat of the large black suburban, nodding her head back towards the identical one behind it as they wait in idle in front of the affluent high-rise condominium parking lot in NYC.

"Ay mami, jou're bringing anoder after-partie with jou tonight, hm? Looks like beeg crowd," the obviously Latin parking attendant notes at the two large vehicles tinted in all black with a teasing and almost scandalous tone, though not flirtatious in any way considering the perfectly-quoffed hairdo, facial hair, and recent mani-pedi that hint towards his gender of preference before giving the baggy-eyed model a wink, "But Héctor will pull strings for jou, jes? Just don't do anything to dee poor boys _I_ wouldn't do~ jaja!"

The blonde gives him a tired salute, Ramona stretching both hands over her head in the back seat next to a pensive Blake with a yawn as Iris pulls the first of the two vehicles into the lot, "Haaaaa~ We there yet?"

"Yeah, we're there. I just hope I didn't leave too many things lying around before I left..."

"Oh yes, God forbid we run into boxer briefs and bras with cup sizes that could suffocate a grown person hanging from the ceiling after your last ' _after-partie_ '," Iris remarks with a mocking tone of the parking attendant's accent as they reach the correct garage level and park, the usually short-fused brawler simply rolling her eyes in dismissal of the comment before the heiress corrects herself, "Sorry... it's, been a long night. In these situations, I tend to lean towards..."

"I get it, I get it," Blaine drawls with an easy-going smirk in evident forgiveness, "I figure that kind of loss isn't easy on anybody. Besides, you struck me as the icy type when I first met you, anyway..."

"Wait, 'In these situations'?" Ramona echoes curiously as she leans forward between the driver and passenger seats, awkwardly adjusting the hem of her dress as she glances at Iris from her new position, "You mean you've been through this kind of thing before?"

The platinum-blonde businesswoman merely screws her eyes shut with both hands on the wheel as the vehicle idles in its spot and the second vehicle parks next to it, the sounds of her hands squeezing the leather wheel tightly being heard as her jaw sets angrily before she seethes, "I should say that we of the EURENCO board are no strangers to 'loss' at the hands of certain _activists_... isn't that right, _Blake_."

The girl staring out the window in the back who'd been largely silent until now turning forward to the driver with a somber slack jaw and no response, Blaine cuts in by disrupting the tension with the sound of her opening door.

"Hey, girls. We've just kinda avoided Death once already today, so let's chill out for like two seconds before trying to point any fingers, 'kay? Besides, I think I should point out that whatever happened, it was _Blake_ that got us out in the end before things _really_ went to the-"

"Sit'er down for a sec," John is suddenly heard saying outside as he steps out of the driver's side of the vehicle, the four girls in the first vehicle turning to see the rest of their group appearing from the second, "I knew it wasn't a good idea to let Norah drink all that grape soda from that gas stop in Connecticut..."

Ben merely shrugs as he lets the pale girl sit there in the back with him for a moment more and then slings her arm over his shoulder to pull her - and the sledgehammer she'd been too stubborn to leave behind - out after she belches again, "Well, were _you_ willing to be the one to cut her off?"

John simply scratches the back of his head in a show of acknowledging his roommate's point before Juniper notes aloud to ease the situation, "In any case... we appreciate you driving the way over, John. I... hope I didn't grate your nerves by talking too much on our way over..."

"No, not at all," he replies politely as Iris and her passengers now step out as well, his winning smile drawing out a similar one from the redhead who'd been driving shotgun with him the whole way, "It was nice catching up, Pyr- I mean, June... heh..."

"You've... been callin her that name all night," Norah slowly ekes from over Ben's shoulder with what looks like a lazy sloth hug, clearly still gurgly from the fizzy drink overload as a rumble in her stomach then precedes a smaller burp that echoes in the large garage.

It's evident that those in John's car had used catching up as a way to distract themselves on the drive to NYC, as opposed to those driving with Iris who'd stayed largely silent. However, it isn't a thought the girls dwell on for very long as the group circles around their respective vehicles to meet in front of them.

"Alright, people, mi casa is that way through the stairwell," Blaine now points out to get everyone's attention, the blonde already leading the way to the suite in question, "Because nothing good will come if I stay in these ridiculous heels for another minute, and trust me, you won't like me when I'm... _upset_..."

And true to her word, the stilettoes are the first things Blaine kicks off onto the modern apartment after scanning her keycard to open the door, the remaining young adults stepping in behind her in awe of the minimalist post-modern décor throughout the stylish multi-story space. Iris however walks in slowly at first, eyeing her cell phone before Blaine remarks, "You thinking 'bout who to call first to tell you're okay?"

"Um, not yet," she adds unsurely, pocketing the phone before adding, "I don't think I want to be thrust into the media hurricane that'd hit me for being the 'sole survivor' at the moment... and, it probably wouldn't make much a difference if I waited until tomorrow to let my relatives know anyway. You?"

"No relatives to tell," Blaine remarks simply before walking into the open area of the apartment, Iris now finding herself among the rest of the guests admiring the décor.

"What did you say you did in your line of work again?" Iris now asks, barely hiding the mildly impressed tone in her voice as Blaine walks into the built-in bar and Ben takes a seat at the bar counter with Norah.

"Modeling, though more MMA trainer and occasional fighter as well. Almost got a gig as a swimsuit model for Sports Illustrated last Summer but I lost it since I was training for a bit fight at the time," the tenant drones absent-mindedly as she goes through her diverse liquor cabinet, her hourglass figure perfectly outlined from behind in her colorblock dress as she reaches up to a top shelf with a grin, "Come to _mama_ ~ Now I _know_ I'm not the only one here who could use a drink. Sound off on ages, people?"

Surprisingly met with a small chorus of _Twenty-Ones_ and _Twenty-Twos_ in mutely eager replies, Blaine simply smiles at her accurate deduction even as Ramona huffs, "Nine- _teen_..."

"Sorry, 'Mona. Looks like you're the baby of the group again~"

"I-I'm almost twenty, though!"

Blaine gets to setting up the bar to mix a round of cocktails after telling the rest to make themselves at home, almost sure that Iris is about to berate her choice of furniture placement as she nears a particularly distinct one at a corner between a large spiral staircase and the floor-to-ceiling window pane skyscraper glass... until-

"Wait, isn't this an X-Box Ten-Eighty Slim... Mark _Three?_ " Iris asks incredulously upon coming across the distinctive console plugged into what looks like a pair of cylindrical glass tanks facing each other by the corner itself, "And is that the fully-immersive dual-player-capable VR interface built with external feed and NerveGear gloves!?"

"Yeah. That's... actually pretty observant of you," Ramona notes as she hops off her seat at the bar - not that she was going to get a drink anyway - and walks over to the machine, "Call of Duty Twelve, Black Ops Nineteen, and Halo Thirty-Five wouldn't be the same without it! Though between you and me, _Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes_ would have to be my fav-"

"Did someone say _Star Wars!?_ " Norah exclaims, suddenly right next to the machine scanning it from top to bottom with little _oohs_ and _ahhs_ every few seconds, "I _love_ Star Wars! Can Benny and me take it for a spin? Pleeeeze!? It was his idea!"

The girls simply turn to face Ben who's still at the bar, blinking at the scene before asking Blaine for a double and downing it like a pro, "Norah's known for her stomach of steel and quick recoveries, but even this is unusual for her..."

"That's a weird way to ask to power up the X-Box," Blaine teases with a smirk, "But sure, Ramona's usually the only one around to play it and it doesn't get much more action past the drunk party-goers that make me pity them as I watch the noobs running in circles and shooting the floor in the newest installment of Destiny... makes me wonder how little VR really differs from real life when you think about it."

"Uh Huh. Less talky, more light saber slashy!" Norah shouts from a distance, Ben giving Blaine a small smile in apology.

"I'll go hit the power button, then."

"Roll call for requests unless you wanna get stuck with water!" Blaine then yells as Ben makes his way over to the machine, the remaining young adults making their way over one by one.

"Whiskey. Straight," Blake asks, drawing a raised brow from the impromptu bartender, "It's... been a long night."

"Alright, alright," she drawls understandingly as she whips up the drink in glass, "This ain't no confession booth; I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for kiss-and-tell later, though. Next!"

"Gin and Tonic, please. With a lime twist," Juniper notes, a smile from the brawler as she puts it together like a seasoned mixologist.

"Coming right up! Aren't you like that up-and-coming track star who just made it into next year's Olyimpics?" Blaine realizes, the small blush on the redhead's checks giving her away much to Blaine's delight, "Man you look even more athletically built in person, you know that? Pity I never had you at a house party before, or at least under better circumstances... here you go!"

As Juniper thanks her, noting that her trainers probably won't mind what they don't know after she makes her way to her training location in one piece, John makes his way over unsurely as if having hoped that there was a menu or something he could use, "Um... Apple ale. On the rocks?"

"Uh huh... and why am I not surprised," Blaine states flatly, a raised brow and smirk gracing her features as she reaches down to a mini-fridge built into the bar counter between them and comes back up to pour the contents of a colorful glass bottle into a glass with ice, "One fruity beer for the 'stud'. Want a little umbrella with that?"

"Uhm... No thanks?"

"Blaiiiine, don't be mean," Ramona admonishes as she drops by, glancing at John with a small smile as the blonde herself shrugs it off, "Enjoy your drink, John... you can sit at the couches in front of the X-Box; Ben and Norah are almost done registering their accounts."

John snorts with a small measure of amusement, glad that no one has been too shaken by the apparent 'accident' he knew was anything but. But that was a question to have answered another time; better to keep the peace for now while the peace is good. As a matter of fact, _For normal citizens of the day_ , he can't help but note in passing thought, _they're taking it rather well_...

"Aaaaand, I didn't forget the Strawberry Daiquiri," Blaine then remarks as the sisters are the only ones left at the bar before able slides over the drink in question, "Virgin. Foe mah wittle viwgin sistew~ haha, but who knows, maybe John there might-"

"Shut up," Ramona interjects with narrowed eyes and growing blush, Blaine chuckling as she finishes putting together her own Strawberry Sunrise complete with little umbrella of its own before they make their way to the ample leather couches set up in front of the massive LED screen - an eye-boggling full-HD 106-inch affair set up between the tanks and connected to the X-Box.

Powering through the main selection screen, the game was meant to cover everything through Star Wars Episode 9 which had come out in theaters some years ago, but since Ramona had unlocked the Legends Mode, Ben and Norah were able to select characters from the original trilogies as well.

Interstingly enough, Ben chose Qui-Gon Jin while Norah chose Darth Sidious.

"Remember," Ruby advises as the new couple puts on their gloves and prepare to put on their headgear, "You just step into the tank and roll with it. The floor is like a treadmill mat that moves when you step against it so don't worry about running into the walls or anything - freaked me out the first time till I got used to it."

Each nodding in reply, Ben puts on his headset and the group sees an avatar of Qui-Gon Jinn on the screen making his _Remember, your focus determines your reality_ quote before Norah does the same and they see an avatar of Sidious shouting, _Unlimited Poweeeeer!_

With that, both avatars spawn in the ample corridors within the Death Star and do battle. Ben turns out to be surprisingly agile as he leaps and dodges around Norah's repeated lightning attacks, Sidious simply cackling like the madman that he is while continuing the zapping and not even drawing out his light saber. After a minute or so of that, Qui-Gon's depletion of his stamina bar precedes a direct hit from the Force Lightning, his health inevitably hitting zero which causes the avatar to fall to the knees and die before bursting into a cloud of pixels.

"MUAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Norah cackles in her little tank as Ben removes his gear with a vaguely frustrated sigh, "Next victim!"

"Wanna give it a go, Juniper?" he then asks as he makes his way to the couches, the resident athlete giving a small nod in reply, "Careful, though... she likes to spam those lightning attacks."

Trying her best to hide a chuckle at his nonplussed demeanor, Juniper stands and states before making her way to the tank, "Duly Noted."

Once in, however, she looks down at her long crimson gown and makes do by taking the hem of her dress and pulling it up to the top of her skirt slit mid-thigh before wrapping it around her legs in a makeshift adjustment for mobility.

Still, she glances at the group as she puts on her gloves, "I'm... afraid I've never played before, though. I don't really have an account."

"That's okay," Ramona replies helpfully, "Just log in as a guest! There are a few general characters you can choose from, they're not too bad."

Doing so, Juniper flips through a few characters before stopping at _Padawan_ , glancing through its balanced stats and equipment before selecting it and putting on her headset. Being a general character, the avatar doesn't even give a quote before Nora's Sidious screams _Unlimited Poweeeeer!_ and they spawn again in the Death Star.

Forgetting to watch the screen for a moment, the group watches Juniper herself seeming to crouch down a bit with her admittedly eye-catching figure as she gets a feel for her light saber, the gloves in her hands stimulating her nerves to circle around an invisible hilt as if it were actually there. But as the sounds of evil Sith Lord cackling and lightning fill the room, the audience turns back to the screen to see the Padwan dodging with similar agility to that of Qui-Gon.

"Wow, she must be pretty nimble to get the character to move like that without Qui-Gon's status buffs," Ramona notes with an impressed expression, "But she won't be able to keep up dodging like that forever with a stamina bar that small..."

But to their surprise, Juniper merely smirks in her tank as she eventually makes her avatar land about a dozen yards from Sidious, "I do you the favor of suggesting you draw your weapon now lest you face grievous defeat, Darth Norah..."

"Haha, never!" her opponent cackles maniacally from her own tank, "My Force Bar is more than half full - more than enough to deal with you Jedi scum! Prepare to roast under the full power of the Dark Side! Ahahahahahahahhhh!"

And with the execution of a Force Lightning attack from too close a range to dodge, the audience watches in suspense before audibly gasping as Juniper activates a Light-Shield that all Padawans would be granted during training in the form of an arm bracer to absorb the energy.

"Eh? What's this!?" Nora cries out in surprise, having forgotten the inventory of such a useless character before Juniper suddenly powers up her light saber and chucks it at Sidous like a javelin to impale him through the chest.

The room stays completely silent for a moment in shock before Ramona finally speaks, "A bit unorthodox, but effective."

"Thank you," Juniper states politely as Norah removes her gear, poking her head out the side of the tank.

"Can I get a-"

"No Norah, she gave you fair warning," Ben notes with what John can't help but notice looks like a satisfied smirk from an avenged fallen comrade, to which she simply groans petulantly.

"Fiiiine, who's next, then... wanna give it a try, new girl? I'll let you use my account if you want - Dark Side only, though."

Blake glances around unsurely until making eye contact with Blaine and Ramona who give her permission with a pair of nods.

"I... don't see why not, then. Seems like an interesting simulator."

Taking the gear Norah offers her, the girl in the catsuit gets situated in her tank while Juniper lets down the loose knot in her dress to make an improvised second slit along her other leg.

"Huh, I see _someone's_ channeling their inner Chun Li into the game... my money's on the girl in the Street Fighter dress that fights like a Spartan!" Blaine calls out with a wide grin.

But unfazed, Blake simply circles through the lineup of Sith before coming to a stop for an interesting one, John catching what he realized was another habit of hers as she read through the character data. Her tip of her tongue would stick out the side of her lips when she read...

"Alright, I think I've chosen," Blake decides before making the selection and donning her headset, the avatar of Asajj Ventress and her dual light sabers coming into the screen with her _I Am Fear_ quote.

With Juniper loading her avatar that didn't have stage choice priority against a character like Asajj, their stage loads to a temple of the Nightsister coven on the blood-red planet Dathomir. Making the first move, Juniper leaps at Blake with her light saber held like a spear and light-shield engaged over her arm bracer but is held back by surprisingly coordinated attacks from the Sith Apprentice. Both girls smirking in their respective tanks at the the shared realization of encountering a worthy opponent, they reengage once more, the audience even beginning to cheer as the round goes on for the next few minutes in the form of a decent battle.

For John, however... it was like wringing out his heart within his chest. How many times had he seen Blake move like that, strike like that, leap like that? Everything about it was beautiful, and while both girls currently fighting were beautiful in their own right, John realized that his personal bias was probably playing a part...

But if that weren't enough, it was when Blake activated Asajj's Nightsister ability of creating Force Illusions to gain the upper hand on the surprised Padawan that John... or Jaune... felt the knot in his throat. Girl was playing to her own strengths and she barely even knew it yet...

Fighting back the majority of the clones flitting around her, Juniper can only stand her ground for a minute more before being eventually overwhelmed, the real Asajj appearing from behind and stabbing the Padawan through the gut. But even then, the cheering continues for the girl who'd performed admirably with natural athletic skill despite the character disadvantage.

Standing up in front of her, Juniper grins at thinking John is about to give her a possible hug of congratulations before watching him down the rest of his beer in one swig and begin walking towards the empty tank with naught but a pat on her shoulder, "Good fight. My turn, now."

"Woot, go John!" Norah exclaims happily, Ben giving his roommate and friend a thumbs up as John enters the tank with a small smile and goes through the list.

Most of the characters are unknown or not even named... but when he gets to a certain character in the droid section of the list, he can't help but grin.

"You alright over there... Jaune?" Blake asks pointedly, a small smirk on her lips seen through the thick glass of both tanks, "I'd understand it if you wanted me to go easy on you after all this time..."

Still a little bent on the events in Providence, John can't quite bring himself to smile back but notes with the same teasing tone in reciprocation, "Eh well... if you're looking for a trip down memory lane, then you might wanna brace yourself for a crash course."

Just how much she could remember by now was his best guess... but clearly, Blake hadn't let the prime opportunity to sift through her thoughts while driving to New York for the past few hours go to waste.

Nonetheless, Juniper furrows her brows a bit at the exchange, turning to John's long-time friends in question, "Did they know each other before tonight?"

Ben and Norah simply shrug before Blake puts on the gear and her avatar makes the _I Am Fear_ quote again, to which John engages his own gear with a small smirk.

 _'I am Imperial training droid Prototype Ten—designated "PROXY".'_

"Ooh, this should be good," Ramona begins excitedly as she takes a sip of her drink and the stage loads again on Dathomir with the two avatars, "I've seen lots of good PROXYs played online..."

"Coming at me with a machine, hm? How poignant," Blake teases a bit from her tank as the two avatars wait in a standoff, to which John raises a brow.

"Funny, coming from you," he retorts at her ironically catty remark, "But if I recall, you were never one to talk much during a fight. It's alright if you change it up, though... since as I'm sure you remember by now,-"

John pauses as he engages PROXY's prime function - the ability to emulate his opponent's appearance and combat ability to the same stat levels while imitating any Force-abilities that can be mimicked by holo-technology as well.

"-I can be _very_ versatile."

Blake smiles as both Ventresses brandish their dual light sabers at each other on screen, "We shall see."

Both players engage in-game, the resulting fight just as good as the last as their skills with their blades lead to an interesting barrage of humming slashes. Their styles almost identical, the only difference is Jaune's Ventress always keeping one light saber in a reverse grip as if almost using it as a rudimentary shield against Blake's chaotic and unpredictable form. The cheers from the group begin again as the fight takes them into the temple and up the first few floors with acrobatic leaps and shows of skill, neither of them giving ground on the top floor of the temple where the wide windowless apertures feature long, elegant blood-red curtains that billow with the passing breeze.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"What, that red never really was your color?" Jaune quips in reply, smirking with his mind's eye at the girl in identical gear only a few feet in front of him.

But with a burst of speed he isn't expecting as the duo's fight has already taken them close to the edge, Jaune's heart actually skips a beat as Blake's Ventress tackles him out the side of the building and sends them both hurdling through the air. The two avatars still trading a few blows during their descent, much to their audience's entertainment, Jaune yells out, "Are you crazy? We hit the ground and it'll just be a double KO!"

"Not if I can help it - besides, _you_ were the one talking about a 'crash course' just now, weren't you?"

As if she could sense his realization, Blake's Ventress begins making Force Illusions around herself, able to rebound off their Force signatures to begin slowing her descent... Jaune, however, realizes that his subsequent attempts at Force illusions yield less than tangible results - considering his hologram copies of Asajj don't actually provide anything to rebound off of. So taking advantage of their proximity before it's too late, Jaune's Ventress takes advantage of the sturdier authentic Force illusions to stay in the air and continue the battle.

"Gohhhh!" Ramona cries out in glee as the dynamic mid-air battle is played out on screen for them to watch enraptured, "I've never even _seen_ that done before - most people spend months just trying to get the _timing_ for Force-Clone-Rebounding down, let alone figuring out how to do it against someone _else's!_ "

"Heh, you're right, Rubes," Blaine remarks off-handedly with a small smirk, "These guys must be pretty pro if they've gotten those moves down like that, maybe even a co-op team online. I get dibs on winner, though."

"Fiiine," the younger girl in her ponytail hedges, realizing that she's been beaten to the punch of her next statement before furrowing her brows at her sister in thought, "Hey... what'd you just call me?"

"Hm? I dunno."

Ramona remains pensive for a moment before making a small shrug and returning to view the epic battle on screen, "Hm."

Meanwhile, as the duel rages on, Jaune realizes that they're still descending and speaks up through the headset, "Let's see if you learned anything from last time, hope you don't mind if I shake it up!"

Looking down, Blake's Ventress lets out a cascade of copies to slow her fall, unwittingly going slack-jawed as Jaune counts her copies before doing the same. With a plethora of falling Ventresses, both avatars frantically try and ensure they keep landing on genuine copies - despite the slight misnomer - in attempts to slow down. Jaune manages to do so and lands with his bionic legs to absorb the impact and sustain only 75% health bar loss.

Blake does not.

Growling in frustration as her avatar lands and shatters into a million pixels, Blake still can't help a smirk at the blonde as each player takes off their headsets, "Well at least there wasn't a cliff this time..."

"There isn't a cliff in any of the stages," Ramona notes matter-of-factly, glancing at the confused pair of players in wonder of what they could be talking about before Blaine cuts in to break the moment.

"Cliff or no cliff, I called dibs on winner and it's time for me to get some!"

Blake offers Blaine her gear with a small smirk, returning to her seat as the two blondes gear up within their respective tanks. Blaine flicks through the menus and profile selections with ease, locking her avatar in before Jaune could set his own avatar that was already preset. Interestingly enough, Blaine's choice is evident with the appearance of the medium-haired Force-user in dark Jedi garb on screen.

 _'You underestimate my power!'_

"Oho, Anakin? Seriously?" Jaune notes aloud at the unmistakable quote, his avatar then repeating its own PROXY quote before both are materialized onto the Force Unleashed franchise's _Rogue Shadow_ starship, "Might wanna draw your weapon since Force powers won't do you much good in these tiny walkways!"

"I don't plan on it," Blaine retorts, making her Anakin crack his knuckles with a smirk, "See, a real woman can beat her enemies down with her bare fists, and being that Anakin has some of the highest physical stats in-game when boosted by his Force attributes... you see what I'm getting at. And he has great hair!"

"Of _course_ he does," Jaune replies, even PROXY making an eye roll before adopting Anakin's appearance and stance, "Oh well, as you wish."

As the two Anakins engage, Jaune can't help but wonder... in a different time, and a different life, would Yang have trained the same way she trained as a Huntress? It was a bet worth making, so he then let himself retreat into mind and instinct, hoping muscle memory would take care of the rest...

" _Whoah_ ," Ramona, Ben, Norah, and even Juniper let out at the sudden flurry of kicks and punches that Blaine and John of all people begin to trade, the bodies in the tanks just as limber as the avatars on screen. The girl in the lacy red dress - sans the heels by now, since she hates heels even more than her sister - turns to face John's friends, "I'd never have guessed that John had MMA training!?"

Ben simply glances at the blonde playing PROXY before turning back to face Ramona with a slow incredulous shrug, "Same here."

But as the fight goes on, John blocking admirably as Blaine's punches and kicks land with enough Force power to dent the walls _behind_ him, the tides actually begin to turn as he pushes her back with an assault of his own. Incorporating combinations and grappling techniques that even Blaine wasn't familiar with, PROXY Anakin gets a hold of the opposing Anakin avatar and slams him into the more open cargo bay.

"Wha- woah there, John, that's some serious jiu jitsu going on there... where'd you get your training?"

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," John casually remarks, his avatar cracking his neck left and right as he makes his way towards his recovering opponent.

" _Try_ me."

"Okay, fine. It's from different places here and there, but most of it was from a certain famous redhead who just so happens to be a mutual friend of ours. Her, and you."

Blaine deadpans at him through her headgear, "Bullshi-"

 _Thwak Thwak Thwthwthwthwthwak!_

But without giving her reprieve to finish her curse, Jaune's Anakin is on her, delivering a flurry of Force-enhanced jabs and hooks before unloading an uppercut that sends the stunned opposing Anakin into the air. Not content with the onslaught, Jaune flips his character up and over Yang's avatar to deliver a final downwards cross that sends her player into the floor and forces her health bar to be cut in half.

Ramona stands in shock, gaping at Jaune's feat, "B-Blaine! He just matched your signature combo punch for punch!"

"I know," Blaine grumbles from inside her tank as if she'd actually taken the hit in real life, though the pain was most likely real from her pride's point of view, "I _know_..."

But when John's avatar walks over to Blaine's downed form, raising his hand and coalescing layers of the Force around it to augment its power and deliver the final strike, his avatar freezes as it's suddenly eviscerated by an all-too-familiar hum.

"I hope you _saber_ this defeat, Johnny-boy," Blaine states as her avatar rises with its lightsaber held through John's avatar's abdomen, "Cuz it tastes brutal."

"Dick move, Blaine. Dick move," is all John can say before his avatar bursts into a million pixels and Blaine is claimed the victor.

"Guhhh," Ramona groans from outside, "Since when do you make puns that bad, Blaine? Actually, since when do you make puns at all!?"

Blake ticks her head in thought before letting out with a small smirk, "I dunno... but I have a feeling that the habit's gonna stick..."

Unfazed, Ramona simply grins at the blue-eyed blonde as he exits the tank with a sigh, "Don't worry, John! I'll avenge you!"

"Heh. Thanks, Rubes."

Ramona takes the gear but spins on her heel to glance at the new guy curiously as he walks back to his seat... hadn't Blaine just called her that a minute ago? But shaking herself out of it, she turns herself instead to face her sister with easily renewed gusto.

"Not bad, John," Ren states calmly in complement of his commendable performance as he gets ready to sit, but suddenly adding more quickly as John prepares to sit back into the couch, "W-Wait, before you sit... um, me and Norah wanted a place to set our drinks. Mind if you scoot the coffee table a little closer?"

"I didn't get any-" Norah begins, only to be cut off by the stoic young man with a subtle hush.

"Um... sure, Ben. This one over here?"

Ben nods with a small smile as John points to the single piece of furniture between them and the screen, a large square plane of glass suction-cupped to the top of a simple cube of rock. But as he removes the glass bit and puts it to the side as Ramona and Blaine pick out their characters, Iris leans over to Ben in question.

"That centerpiece is solid _granite_. At that size, it likely weighs at _least_ four-hundred-"

"That's right, bend the knees and keep your back straight," Ben adds, interrupting her with a raised hand as John bends down to do the deed, "Iris here just told me that it weighs less than fifty pounds - shouldn't be a problem."

Now curious about his aims, Iris pauses to see what's happening even as Blaine's and Ramona's avatars load up in some stage that looks like the a desert in Tatooine. John's grip tightens, and a few others there notice as the first sounds of stone grinding against tile precede the piece's slow ascent in John's grip. His face red and body locked as he turns the 3-foot-wide cubic piece of rock towards them, he groans in exertion before slowly stepping over and putting it down closer to the group.

" _Man_... fifty pounds, huh?" John huffs out as he turns and picks up the glass piece to replace it on the centerpiece in front of his friends, wiping his brow to give them an apologetic smile, "That was brutal... I _really_ need to work out."

"No," Iris finally notes as she rebuilds the nerve to speak, her voice almost coming out as a stunned squeak nonetheless, "I... think you're just fine."

John simply glances curiously at the stunned pair in front of him, his gaze eventually settling on the smug Blake beside them before asking, "What's gotten into _them?_ "

"Oh, nothing they'll be scratching their heads over for too long, hopefully," she replies with a benign smile, her eyes focusing a bit more on Ben's with intrigue before telling the two of them directly, "Just... give it a while. I think you both will start to make sense of it soon enough."

John follows Blake's gaze before noticing Ben's eyes... are they changing color? He doesn't get the chance to deliberate much more, however, before Blaine's frustrated growl gets everyone's attention.

"The cheapness _again!?_ C'mon!" Blaine barks as she removes her gear in a huff, "That character should be banned!"

"The fight's over already?" Ben asks in curiosity, Ramona's cheeky grin from within her tank signaling the affirmative.

"Hey, it took some _serious_ grinding to get Ezra to where he's at now," Ramona continues to explain, evidently proud of her work, "I mean, it took at least six months just to buff his Force-resistance to Master level!"

"That... sounds like a lot?" Blake half-agrees, Ramona quickly jumping on any sign of support.

"It _is_ a lot! Aside from his speed, that's the best thing he's got going for him!"

Blaine scoffs as she steps out of the tank, hands on hips as she grumpily shifts her weight onto one leg, "Uh huh, aren't you forgetting that weapon? I mean really, who builds a blaster into a _light saber!?_ "

"Ezra Bridger, _that's_ who!" Ramona declares proudly, fawning over the weapon her character holds on the victory screen, "Ohohohoooo, how long I've spent tuning you up, my little Rose... one day I'll figure out what you're missing and you'll be perfect!"

John smirks before calling out at the gushing young woman, "Ever thought of adding a curved blade to it?"

The room falls silent at the seemingly preposterous suggestion, the girl turning to face John with furrowed brows before finally snorting, "Tch, that's a horrible idea! Everyone knows it's impossible to make a lightsaber with a curved blade!"

But as Jaune turns to glance at Blake, he barely even notices Ramona turning back to the blade with renewed intrigue at the idea before shrugging at the now amber-eyed girl.

"Worth a shot."

"She'll come around."

Narrowing his eyes with a small smirk at her off-handed remark, he's almost tempted to address it when the platinum blonde business woman beside him stands up and loudly clears her throat as she straightens out her garb.

"Excuse me," she begins matter-of-factly, catching everyone's attention in the process to see that she's looking directly at Ramona, "I believe I'm next to play. I think I've patiently waited for long enough..."

Caught off guard by the seemingly out of place request from a person of a Sneed's caliber, Ramona blinks with a drawn out _Uhh_ before seeming to snap back into it, "I mean, right! I'm sorry, aside from recognizing the console, I didn't think you were actually... _into_ , this kind of thing..."

"Oh, I've... _dabbled_... into the realm of fully-immersive virtual reality," Iris notes with a prim smile and modest tone which is evidently anything but as she takes off her blazer and strides towards the open tank.

"Uh oh, coat's coming off," Norah calls out with an amused tone of warning as Iris enters the tank and dons the gear without any snags. Giving her an impressed, albeit somewhat surprised, smirk, Ramona reenters her tank and pulls up her profile information.

"Just to warn you Iris," Ramona begins as she inputs her info, "I've had this profile since I was fifteen... which is pretty cool since Ezra technically built his lightsaber-slash-blaster when he was fifteen according to canon... but what I mean to say is that I've done this for a pretty long time and I'm not really good at toning it down, so- _waitaminute_..."

Ramona's eyes widen, her irises looking almost silver instead of their normal gray by the amount of white surrounding them when she notices the profile name Iris has just inputted, "Weiss... M-Myrtenaster!?"

A few of the young adults on the couches glance at Iris' smug smirk in question before glancing to the side to see Blaine similarly slack-jawed in stupefaction. Thankfully, Norah actually knows what's going on and decides to elaborate to those outside the loop, "Weiss Myrtenaster. AKA _Darth_ Myrtenaster, a stupidly crazy-good PvP player who ranks in the top ten worldwide or something."

" _Six_. Soon to be _Four_ , if that dunce from Quebec who actually believes he can play a decent Kylo Ren bothers to show up for our scheduled match next week," Iris proclaims proudly, Ramona going gaga over the news.

"That match is gonna be televised on IGN!" Ramona finally squeaks out, "I was actually gonna watch it!"

" _Good_ ," Iris states with a satisfied smile before finalizing her character selection, "Then consider this a first-hand preview... if you can _last_ the thirty-second length of the average preview, that is..."

The audience watching in stunned silence as both girls put on their headgear and commence loading their avatars, Blaine finally gathers the coherency to turn to them and finish explaining, "So this Myrtenaster persona pops out of nowhere like six months ago, mains as the hardest to level pay-to-upgrade character there is, and buffs it to max level in like a month while buying the largest and densest Kaliburr crystal the worldwide player market has to offer to build the strongest in-game light saber created to date. Rumored to have cost over three million dollars... a rumor I now believe to be true. In other words - she's the most OP OC the game has ever seen, has never lost a match, and the only reason she isn't number One is because the top five players are still pissing themselves at the thought of fighting her."

"OC?" Norah muses aloud before turning at the avatar that appears on screen after Ezra's, "So it's not even a cannon character?"

"Not quite," Ramona begins as the stage loads up to an Alderaanian forest even though Ezra's stage priority parameter is abysmally low, the cloaked avatar across from her extending its long bone-white limb to summon a rapier-like saber into its grasp, "She's a Shaper from the planet Kro Var, one of the smallest known groups of Dark Side users apart from the Sith... a group only mentioned in the Star Wars universe and without a single member of note, but the _only_ known group who've forsaken the invisible uses of the Force in favor of something much more dangerous... manipulating the elements _themselves_."

"Quite the introduction, ladies," Iris states gladly before the unique avatar speeds towards Ramona's in a flash, "I'll admit there's no shame in investing in the occasional pastime..."

"Million-Dollar pastime," Blaine mumbles before they watch the Shaler's blade clash with Ezra's with unusual thrusting motions, "And yeah, then there's that... Darth Myrtenaster actually fights like a fencer, and _wins_."

But with surprisingly quick reflexes, Ramona actually counters the first few lunges with twirled parries before exclaiming, "Until now!"

Caught off-guard by her opponent's agility, the Shaper seemingly floats back for a moment before zipping forward again like a bolt, another salvo of feints and slashes successfully deflected before Iris opts for a different approach. Taking hold of her saber with both hands with a more traditional form, Iris has her avatar land a few powerful slashes against Ramona's defense until the dreaded ALERT: LIGHT SABER SHORTED OUT message flashes on Ramona's HUD.

Normally a feat accomplished only by the more powerful crimson synth or Kaliburr crystals against the light saber blades of a Jedi, what normally would spell doom for a PvP player turns into raw entertainment for the now-cheering audience as Ramona actually begins dodging every one of the Shaper's attacks from close-range.

"That's impossible!" Iris cries out with equal measures of surprise and ire, "No one has that kind of reflexes!"

"Well maybe this'll be the day you got more than the preview you bargained for," Ramona declares before Ezra breaks into the Shaper's guard to point the blaster barrel of her saber at its face... only for Iris to laugh in reply.

" _Not today, peasant!_ "

Ramona's subsequent discharge of her blaster hits nothing but air as the Shaler suddenly disappears at breakneck speeds.

"Hey, I thought Shapers couldn't use Force Dash!"

"They cannot, unless they've mastered air manipulation to the point of granting them superhuman mobility," Iris states nonchalantly before lighting a ball of flame in the Shaper's hand, "You may be good, but your character is a minor inconvenience at best... I doubt this will last much longer."

After twenty more minutes of constant back and forth between them to the point that most of the trees in the forest stage were either flattened or completely vaporized, everyone present began begging to differ. Ramona's foot work was incredible, stopping on a dime and going full sprint with incredible endurance in her tank while Iris looked more like she was playing an intricate instrument in her own tank - one hand pointing the rapier-like saber like a wand while the other played out continuous gestures and finger taps on the air as if it were typing away on an invisible keyboard. Nonetheless, the stalemate that was apparent to everyone except the people fighting finally drew the audience to pay attention to other things.

"So... what ranking is Ramona exactly? Especially is she can hold off a character like Iris' for so long," John asks at his fellow blonde.

"Well," she begins slowly, still keeping an eye on the ongoing fight just in case, "She's just over rank 500 worldwide last I checked, which is pretty decent compared to the millions playing the game these days. But she got to that rank by the time she was sixteen."

"What happened at that time?" Juniper asks in curiosity, "She no longer wished to play?"

"No... she lost her mom at sixteen to cancer, and we each lost our dad to a DUI accident soon after. He... didn't exactly cope well with her passing, so that was that. At least they left us with this place," Blaine recalls sullenly, Juniper immediately making to apologize for bringing up the subject but halted when she raises her hand, "Don't worry about it, it was a while back. Sammy used to love Star Wars, so when she passed and Ramona almost shut down like our dad did, their shared goal for 'Mona to hit number one passed with her. But she eventually came around, she could resist the grind forever... cuz that's how she is - she builds, she tinkers. Thanks goodness she met Monty - he helped get her back on the right track in ways I honestly don't think I could've..."

"Well from where I'm sitting," John concludes, placing a hand of Blaine's bare shoulder reassuringly with a grin, "It looks like you've done a great job with what you had at your disposal."

The brawler lets herself smile at the young man's words, about to thank him when a pair of despaired shouts grabs everyone's attention from the tanks.

"What!? How can that-!? How'd it even-!?"

"This is absurd! Insane!"

"What happened?" Blake asks, a little guilty that they'd all stopped paying attention to the fight that even _she'd_ had to admit should've ended at least ten minutes ago, only for both girls to respond in unison.

" _Double KO!_ "

"I'd finally managed to calculate Ramona's movement patterns enough to strategically place a timed lava-geyser set to erupt at the moment of her passing over it-"

"Which went off at the exact moment my blaster shot timed to pass through the refresh rate of her rotating earth shield went through her big faceless _face!_ "

Both girls face each other before declaring in unison, " _Rematch!_ "

"Ohhh no no no," Blaine cuts in, stating up and waving her hands at them as a cautionary warning, "That's enough for one night. We've had a crazy evening as-is, and it's best we wind down and sort out the rest tomorrow... 'kay?"

"Can't think of anyone we'd need to contact who knew where we were," Ben reasons from his seat with a shrug, "So I suppose that wouldn't be a bad idea. We can revisit this evening's events tomorrow like Blaine said after properly thanking Blake for her intervention as well - a thanks, I believe, we still owe her."

"Please, no need... I saw an opportunity to help and did what I could," the ravenette counters modestly even as everyone nods their thanks in her direction with grateful smiles. Even John does the same, knowing full well that she had come through for him... for _them_... in the end, after all.

Ramona and Iris trade a final narrow-eyed glare before consenting to Blaine's suggestion with grumbling reluctance, each girl leaving their gear in their respective tanks while Blaine shuts off the console after noting the fact that it's well after 2AM. The next few minutes roll by while rooms are appropriated to each guest, Ramona, Iris, Juniper, and Norah going to their respective rooms for the night before Blaine suddenly turns on her heel and walks toward the door.

"Uhhh, you're not planning on staying?" John can't help but ask in curiosity as he sees the brawler raid a side closet to pick out a coat.

"I said 'wind down', didn't I?" Blaine remarks before coming out with a new outer coat and pair on slightly more comfortable pumps that her first pair, "Night's still young, and I have coping issues to deal with. You guys are welcome to join."

John can't help but instinctively turn to his side, glad that Blake seems to have had the same reluctant idea by glancing at him as well before they trade nervous shrugs in agreement. Both getting their things together to prepare to leave, Blaine suddenly appears beside Ben to keep him from walking into the hallway towards the rooms by catching him by his arm.

"Nope, I ain't gonna be a third wheel - you're coming too, now."

"But... Norah... and me-"

"Ah consider it for moral support, c'mon!"

The last exclamation more of a demand than an exhortation, it's stated in tandem with a tug that the stoic can't struggle against before resigning himself to joining. Needless to say, any wonder as to Blaine's idea of winding down is answered as the four acquaintances show up in Blaine's yellow Camaro - with black racing stripes that fit her Bumblebee nickname bestowed upon it - to a bustling NYC nightclub. Pulling up in front of the valet, the brawler makes a final check of her make up before glancing at the frankly nervous passengers through the rear view mirror.

"You guys still joining? Kinda late to get cold feet, you know..."

Already stepping out of the car to give the valet the keys without giving them much more choice, John, Blake, and Ben slowly make their way out of the vehicle to follow Blaine to the front of the line of eager club-goers that wraps around the side of the building.

"I... know I haven't done this before," Ben begins unsurely as he tries to ignore the jealous looks at their group from others in line, "But isn't this cutting?"

Blaine simply scoffs as the group nears the pair of bouncers in black suits and ostentatiously red aviators barring the entrance, "Pfft, as if. The guys know me here - this is one of the best clubs in the city, as you can tell, and I'm good friends with the owner. As in, I beat the snot out of him one time and now he lets me in whenever I want. Hey boys~ care to let a girl and her friends in for some fun?~"

The two large men immediately trading glances as they realize Blaine's talking to them, they nod in assent, albeit with what strikes John as with a nervous rush, before unhooking the velvet red lineyard thing they have at club entrances to let them through to the chagrin of nearby people in the front of the line. John had to admit - for his first time stepping into a club, in this life at least for all he knew, it turned out not to be all the pointless hype they got in pop culture.

The place is both darker and brighter than the average venue that size, lit not by conventional lighting but by all manner of strobe lights and rotating multi-color light things that he can't find the terms to describe. The next thing he notices are the people - so many colors and outlandish styles, the only thing keeping him from staring at any one outfit for too long is the generous amounts of skin they show as the norm. As a matter of fact, despite the leather sleeveless catsuit and boots Blake's still wearing, not only does she fit in with the crowd - she actually looks pretty modest! And finally, the last thing he notices, or feels, is the music... overly-loud _whumps_ and savage bass tracks thumping through every surface and object as the four step into the main area and sea of bodies undulating against each other.

John, Ben, and Blake stay relatively huddled together for safety more than anything else as they see Blaine taking off her coat ahead of them, saying hi to small groups of people here and there with hugs and kisses on the cheeks, and already turning down a few invitations to dance... or guys simply hitting on her outright while she's on her way to the bar. Ben turns back to face his brethren in woes before muttering quickly to take advantage of the decreased volume due to the fading outro of the current song, "I'm gonna follow her, I think she knows what she's doing!"

John has to stifle a chuckle at just how quickly Ben bailed to get a spot next to her at the bar for his own peace of mind, about to tell Blake that it's probably a good idea that they join as well when they are suddenly pushed aside by a new wave of eager dancers onto the glass-like podium in the middle of the dance floor as the new song begins. He looks up at the neon holo-lights floating through the air between the tips of the four glass columns at the corners of the glass-like podium they're standing on.

"The Mystery Skulls remix of 'I won't Let You Walk Away' by MakO... huh."

"And I'm supposed to care!?" Blake cries out, having to shout over the initial bass-heavy beats of the intro with evident consternation at being pushed against by so many sweaty or slightly-drunken people, "I say we make our way down..."

"Hey babe, wanna dance?" some random guy in overly-gelled hair and shiny suit suddenly invites with a stupid grin, "I've never grinded with a girl wearing a Catwoman costume before, looks hot!"

Her eyes immediately going wide in mortification, the ravenette is on John in a heartbeat, arms wrapped around his neck as she looks back at the posh suitor with a not-very-genuine apologetic expression as she begins to sway to the music, "S-So sorry... um, I'm already taken... yeah..."

Breathing a sigh of relief as the guy glances at them both, shrugs, and walks away, Blake turns up to see John looking down at her with a smirk and raised brow.

"Taken, huh? By _me_ now?" he can't help but tease implicitly, secretly enjoying the blush of embarrassment she gets at his words before he slowly separates himself from her by her shoulders, "Well... if you don't mind a dance, we can at least do that. I just don't think it's a slow-song, though."

Blake's pricks up her ear to the music with a tick of her head, a small smile in acceptance of John's invitation preceding her body's beginning to sway to the faster beat while the lyrics finally kick in.

 _I know I won't stop if you give me the keys_  
 _'Cause I can drive it like a criminal_  
 _I won't watch if you want me to leave_  
 _'Cause I keep lookin' back for a miracle._

 _I'm just a lighter without a spark,_  
 _Take a bullet right straight through the heart,_  
 _Oh, I've made my mistakes,_  
 _But I won't let you walk away!_

At the bar, Ben gasps his way through another double, Blaine chuckling at his valiant - or desperate - efforts before he turns to speak at her with a slight hint of a slur in his voice, "You finally 'wind down' yet?"

"Heh, I think you've done most of the winding down for me!" Blaine exclaims with a chuckle as she raises a shot glass to his small mountain of cups in front of him, "But I'm here for the ambience - the music, the drinks... it all just blasts everything out of my head for a while for when I need to think straight about something. Hey... where'd the others go?"

Ben looks around with worry and a small amount of guilt considering how quickly he'd ditched for the chance of safety under the wing of a regular before he turns back to Blaine at the sensation of a pat on his shoulder to see her smirking at the dance floor.

"Never mind... found em'."

 _Please don't tell me you're gone 'cause_  
 _Baby, I want this_  
 _Please don't give it too long 'cause_  
 _Baby, I got this._  
 _Please don't tell me you're gone 'cause_  
 _Baby, I want this_  
 _Please, 'cause I won't let you walk away._

John and Blake have already reconnected on the dance floor, her arms around his neck and his around her waist as their bodies rock rhythmically to the music. No longer minding the heat around them and between them, they've gone from hand-to-hand to chest-to-chest and now almost face-to-face, no longer able to tell where his perspiration ends and hers begins. Instead, they rock together, eyes locked as if retelling each other stories in confidence from long ago...

"Huh," Blaine begins again with a teasing smirk on her lips, leaning back on the bar counter from atop her stool with one elbow, "You and John are buds, right Ben?"

A small nod from the surprised stoic, his eyes not leaving the pair that he's trying to understand as much as his inner need to understand why he seems to understand that them being together is so... _unsurprising_.

"So tell me... what does that look like to you? Love at first sight... or love reunited?"

A short pause before he simply takes another shot and slams the cup behind him on the counter, "I honestly don't know anymore."

 _I got my windows down, getting lost in the breeze_  
 _And I feel like I'm causing a fairytale_  
 _I can't stop wanting you next to me_  
 _'Cause I keep holding up for a miracle._

 _I'm just a lighter without a spark,_  
 _Take a bullet right straight through the heart,_  
 _Oh, I've made my mistakes,_  
 _But I won't let you walk away!_

Back on the floor, John's fighting back the growing swirl of emotions storming through his mind - if Blake having made simple contact with his hand in the diner was bad... _well_... this was understandably MUCH more concerning. What made him feel stranger than anything was how all these new emotions - emotions that hadn't been transferred as easily through muddled daydreams - that he was hurdling through for the first time just felt so _right_. If anything, that's the reason why he's stayed silent for this time - both to enjoy the moment and to avoid saying anything stupid that might ruin said moment.

But that moment could only lead to one thing, so as he nudges her head with his, neither of them caring how matted with perspiration the other currently is, and almost gets surprised by her nigh-instinctive reaction of trying to reach her lips up towards his in an apparent misunderstanding, he pulls back - with a serious surge of self-control that surprises him even more - before speaking up first.

"Uhm... wanna get out of here?"

It sounds weird as he says it, and he hopes it doesn't sound creepy, but as he watches her staring at him blankly with cheeks tinted pink by either the ambient heat or something else before giving him a hesitant but definitive nod, he smiles as he lets his hand drop to hers to lead her out of the dance floor. As they make their way through the crowd, elation surging through him that this young woman actually seemed to be having the same internal complications he was this whole time, he squeezes her hand just a bit, the squeeze that she gives it in return causing him to turn back and see the content smile across her face as they finally reach a side door to the club.

No sooner are they outside and confirmed to be alone when John turns back to face her with an unexpectedly serious expression.

"You remember now, don't you," he begins with restrained excitement, her shoulders drooping a bit as their hands separate and her face reddening at what she suddenly realizes that this isn't what she found herself _hoping_ was about to happen at _all_ , "How much?"

Her body suddenly cold - either because they're outside or because its more... intimate... expectations have just been shattered is her best guess, Blake sighs as she takes her elbow with her opposite hand and her gaze drifts to the floor, "I... think I'm starting to remember everything now..."

"Good. Cuz there's too much to explain in too little time... Let's start with what happened to you after the diner."

* * *

 **A/N:** _Star Wars. Seriously, **Star Wars** is what got me to write and finish this chapter._

 _That and listening to **MakO** that made me imagine Jaune and Blake at a **certain** club together ;)_

 _So yeah, it had to happen. And here it is. It hasn't ruined the plot at all from the bare-bone plotline I have that lays out the rest of this story, but if the references ruined the story, then my bad..._

 _EDIT: Also, a big thanks to **a very lazy person** (not an insult, I swear) for pointing out some plot stuff I revised since our lil convo. Thanks, man!_

 _In any case, can't guarantee another chapter anytime soon with **LDR** and **TGG** running around like girls gone wild in my mind - which obviously would likely grab my attention before most other story ideas on most days - so I'm gonna have my hands full for a while. But if you like this story so far, then by all means feel free to **Fave, Follow, and Review** to show your support and let me know if I'm doing a good job (so far!) Thanks again for your time; so until next time, take care..._

 ** _And Happy Reading!_**


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